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#putting my speculative biology special interest to good use finally
dewwshi · 2 years
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i realized the kallters wouldn't have had domesticated horses when they came to jorvik (because domesticated horses didn't exist yet) so they would have had to domesticate their own horses out of ancient wild jorvegian horses! which means kallter horses are entirely their own subspecies! no more of this kallters riding fjords junk. so here's some concept art for that
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cthulhubert · 4 years
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Thoughts, not even a review, of Terra Ignota
recently finished Will to Battle.
(Book 3 of Terra Ignota, preceded by Too Like the Lightning and Seven Surrenders. The sequel and finale, Perhaps the Stars, is expected in 2021.)
So I wanted to post some thoughts, not even a review, really.
The take away is that despite many of its major, fundamental features leaving me cold or even actively repulsing me, I overall very much enjoyed reading it.
This is perhaps a higher recommendation than unalloyed praise. The more I like something, the more I complain. For one thing, it's a kind of eustress: the perfect thing has no flaws to catch interest; for another, if I just plain dislike something, I wouldn't spare much thought on it to begin with, much less linearize so many of them into words.
So my mostly negative venting (consisting of immediate and thorough spoilers) beneath the cut
So right off the bat: I HATE the genius serial killer trope; and I detest SFF trolley problem analogs.
I was so irritated by the one-two punch of these big reveals in the first book that I actually let my hold on Seven Surrenders and read several other books in the interim. (I knew I'd be back though, I put a new one on both 2 and 3 next.)
Mycroft Canner... one who believes themself "free" merely because they can kill. It reminds me of something that's stuck in my mind for a long time: a guy calling other peoples cucks because they used alarm clocks to wake up. "I can't believe you let a machine boss you around."
Because I otherwise liked the writing so much, I kept trying to dredge up another layer of meaning to the treatment of Mycroft as torturer-rapist-murderer. For instance: "Oh, so many people around him being sympathetic and liking him is actually the narrative sneakily reminding us that the core trait of serial killers like this is a manipulative personality, which his savant abilities would only feed." Carlyle Foster even brings this up specifically in the scene where we first learn the specifics of Canner's crimes, but of course, their portrayal in that scene (which, reminder, is literally by Mycroft) is of one hysterical and unreasonable.
Palmer did achieve one of most author's highest goals in emotionally transporting me to one of their scenes, but it just really made me wish I was in Carlyle's shoes. To react with, rather than panic, the cold disdain merited by a creature so broken it is wrong about the ways in which it is broken. To spit on them and denigrate their feelings of uniqueness and specialness, arising both from the murders and from their oh so pitiable martyrdom and servitude now. "If only we could mercifully lobotomize away your personality and still use the savanthood modules so unfortunately stapled to them."
Mycroft: "Everybody seems to have one murder they thought was the worst. I thought yours would be []" Me instead of Carlyle, snidely: "Is that a fun game for you, that speculation?"
(In another scene, the Major's sympathy to Mycroft and Saladin as "fellow killers" somewhat raised my hackles; my experience is military people expressing exaggerated disgust for "civilian" killers, perhaps as a way of mental separation between their acts. Though the revelation that the Major is Achilles, with an ancient's attitudes, perhaps ameliorates this.)
As for OS... if you've invented prophecy, there will be heaps upon myriads upon multitudes of miraculous ways to reshape the world before you reach a best value intervention of cold-blooded murder. I was, at least, amused by considering the linear combination of this limitation between the author and the characters. Palmer was quite clever in making sure that the mystical demographic math must be facilitated by humans (and the very odd set-set humans at that).
I admit I hold this philosophy a bit more strongly than my time investment in the fields merit, but I see it this way:
In physics, infinite, friction-less planes in perfect vacuums occupied by inelastic, spherical cows are a useful tool. They approximate things that are theoretically possible, absent the various extra forces.
In ethics, and in any system that is so truly complex, everything you remove makes for a completely different system. None of the elements are basically orthogonal to the circumstances the way air resistance is to a bullet.
These philosophical sorts of thought experiments are, at best, emotional exercises. They are not simplified tools to build a foundation for more complex issues, they're figments born of the phantasmal conditions possible only in the interior of the brain, and too much work with them will only foul both logic and intuition with garbage data.
As for what merely fell flat:
While I deeply enjoyed so much of the speculation about cultural changes brought about by technology, and travel technology specifically, the "no proselytizing" law felt quite forced. I can definitely believe such a law would be passed after the Church Wars described, but holding so strong for centuries?
There are all kinds of supernatural thoughts and beliefs people accept, and there simply isn't a neat threshold between those and religion. Even in the counterfactual world where there was one, it would be quite concealed by the sophistry that's metastasized through the entire discussion space around it.
I can think of a dozen questions off the top of my head that they'd have to decide. And while flipping a coin or an attempt at a definitional framework could answer them, it couldn't do it in a way that's strong enough to stand the test of time. Imagine Laurel/Yanny, the Dress, or if a hot dog is a sandwich, but with material-security level of investment in them!
I'm areligious (to put it... mildly) but for personal, psychosocial reasons, when I sit down to eat I spend a moment in mindful gratitude towards the plants and animals that gave their life for mine. Is that religious? Are ghost hunter shows illegal because they're proselytory for any animistic religion? Would acupuncturists be able to work, or is that a daoist superstition? Could my neighbor's still paint the ceiling of their porch haint blue? Are scientists allowed to register trials for psychic powers? Can schools teach the arguments for dualism?
That doesn't even get into the subjects that, in real life, yank out all the stops on linguistic-conceptual inventiveness! Europe has had a pestilential outbreak of sophistry around head scarves! Would the Alliance ban them for being religious garb? If so, would they ban clothing that covers the ankles as Calvinist religious garb? Or that covers the nipples? (Oh wait, showing the nipples is of significance in some religions! can't allow that!) Should they ban clothing that contains unmixed fibers for being a religious display!? They don't seem to do any of these things, but that's just as much a choice about the First Law as doing so.
Someone proposes personhood begins at conception; I claim that this is fundamentally a supernaturalist belief. Is one of us in violation of the first law? If a hive outlaws birth control, how are they investigated for whether this is a cultural or religious condition? What happens when, I dunno, a Cousin run campus has somebody that wants to put Intelligent Design in the biology textbooks? Most people (well including the people pushing it) know that it's religion wrapped in plausibly deniable words. So is that proselytizing, or is someone pointing it out proselytizing atheism?
Speaking of, there's a pretty good correlation of peace and prosperity with movement to non-religioun. It honestly doesn't seem like sensayers should have much work.
But we meet Bridger and his miracles right at the beginning of the book, before we know a thing about the Church Wars etc. And it's obviously a central tension of the story, intended to be coequal with the brewing war, and yet it quite failed to rouse my interest. The book would've been stronger without it.
Perhaps this *is* just a me thing, since my mind has held miraculous intervention as a solved problem for most of my life. If I were convinced of an event's miraculous character, the most parsimonious explanation is in the vein of, "We're in a simulation that's only been running for a week or so, either as a game or as an experiment, and now we're running under different rules than the ones our (artificial) memories imply." The probability of that happening is too low to waste time processing any other ramifications or possibilities ahead of time.
There is another, related layer of enjoyable consideration, which is of course the reliability of the narrator and his evidence. In Will to Battle, our author is revealed as explicitly delusional, suffering regular, presumably PTSD (and/or anti-sleep drug) related hallucinations. I wish I'd had the patience to do a very close read, or to do a second read—especially given the revelation that 9A edited some of the delusions out of the first two books. Diegetic skepticism is a regular part of the narrative. And there are lots of "rhymes" in the text to mundane circumstances. We're told Bridger looks like Apollo and Seine, and shown the artificial, parentless children, Ganymede and Danaë (crafted to be such a degree of hyperstimulus that among other things, Ganymede has an entire school of art dedicated to him). We're shown that perceptions are malleable, with Thisbe's "witchcraft" and Cato's magician like showmanship. We're constantly exposed to griffincloth and know that just its presence at JEDD's assassination spread skepticism. We're told that scientists proclaim Achilles to have Ancient Greek DNA and an adult's bone structure, but we're also constantly shown an incredible variety of artificial animals and related wonders, and told Apollo was a great scientist.
And yet, over and over the narrative rebukes skepticism. 9A endorses most of what Mycroft has written, and if we go so far as considering them (along with, eg, the officialese headings and warnings) as Mycroft's delusions too, we're at the point where we have to step back so far that the unreliable narrator is actually this "Ada Palmer" character, who is writing about things that don't exist in a year we haven't reached yet!
I was bothered that nobody who learned about it seemed ready to express the proper amount of disgust at the extra-incestuous politics of the world leaders, and honestly find it simply hard to accept that their consortium worked so altruistically.
Finally, ultimately, the central themes of the novel, about peace and war and complacency seem awfully poorly considered for the current era, where voting age children have never known a world without an official war, and the just grown generation is the first since the industrial revolution to be poorer and less healthy and more stressed than their parents. Not just this novel, but the world in general seems to be sorely missing the concept of the important qualitative differences between distress and eustress.
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Everything You Want to Know about Reaper and Soldier: 76
HAPPY REAPER76 DAY!!
In light of today’s news (and the chaos of Blizzcon), I figured a post on what we know about Reaper and Soldier: 76 is probably appropriate.
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Please remember to reblog or retweet the original posts from Auttoton/Autolikescake! (here: http://auttoton.tumblr.com/post/167297655733/i-attended-a-panel-at-blizzard-tonight-with-jeff and here: https://twitter.com/Autolikescake/status/928528808445014019)
“Overwatch's short list of prospective agents included two members of the soldier enhancement program: Morrison and Gabriel Reyes, a senior officer. Reyes, a hardened and highly respected veteran, grew up about as far from rustic Indiana as you could get—the sprawling urban melting pot of Los Angeles. Despite their differences, the two soldiers became friends. Their decision to join Overwatch together would change the world, for good and for bad.”
(source: https://playoverwatch.com/en-us/blog/19809396/) Buckle up - this is one of the longest ones yet!
One thing to keep in mind with this article - “Fading Glory: On the Trail of Jack Morrison” - is that it is written in-universe from an unreliable background narrator (the journalist Olympia Shaw).  It contains both “facts about Reyes and Morrison,” but it also contains her biases and is tinted with her view and understanding of the world.
Similarly, all sources cited from within the universe of Overwatch are from very specific perspectives and typically told through an unreliable narrator.  At his 2017 GDC talk, “Thinking Globally: Building the Optimistic Future of Overwatch,” Michael Chu had this to say about Blizzard’s storytelling for the characters:
“One of the things that we really like doing with Overwatch is playing with perspective.  We utilize perspective when we tell stories about what characters are thinking, what their goals are - and we have a lot of unreliable narrators.  We want people to pay careful attention to what characters think about in particular situations.  We want them to use their judgement and knowlege of a character’s thoughts to come up with their own ideas about the universe.” - Thinking Globally (Timestamp: 34:35 https://youtu.be/bj56ejM5EcU?t=2075) 
This is important because the majority of our information comes from characters with a certain lens on their own words and narratives - Olympia Shaw is one, yes, but others in this story of Gabriel Reyes and Jack Morrison include: Sombra, Moira O’Deorain, Jesse McCree, Ana Amari, Reinhardt Wilhelm, Torbjörn Lindholm, etc.  
And of course - 
Gabriel and Jack themselves.
In my opinion, the beauty and fun of the relationship is digging through the details and seeing how much the two characters share together - in the canon story, in their in-game skins and quotes, in their alternate variations, everything.  Their nearly 30 years of shared history and close personal relationship (in whatever form it takes) makes them a fascinating and interesting pair together and separately.
Let’s start from the beginning!
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SEP: The Soldier Enhancement Program
“Before long, [Morrison] earned a coveted position in the government's controversial and still-classified (but widely acknowledged) "soldier enhancement program." Military scientists shaped Morrison and other inductees into the perfect soldiers, blessed with superhuman speed, strength, and agility. Morrison and his fellow augmented soldiers would soon put their abilities to use with the advent of the Omnic Crisis.”
(Source: https://playoverwatch.com/en-us/blog/19809396/)
Up until extremely recently, very little was known about the “Soldier Enhancement Program.”  People have speculated about the nature of it, how deeply it affected Gabriel and Jack, how the experiences through it shaped the nature of their early relationship, etc.
What We Do Know:
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Soldier: 76 has always had an in-game skin titled “Commando” since the launch of the game.  Originally, I described this as a reference to the 1970′s/1980′s films about special operations “commandos” such as the Schwarzenegger film by the same name (http://segadores-y-soldados.tumblr.com/post/157378862270/reaper-and-soldier-american-cultural-references) The new “The Art of Overwatch” artbook also confirms this was originally an homage to the 1970′s:
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But soon, the Commando skin came to represent something deeper for Soldier: 76 (and Reaper as well).
When the “Uprising” comic was released, there were two panels depicting an aged Strike-Commander Jack describing his experiences in the Omnic Crisis for the first time:
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Many people had guessed that the Soldier Enhancement Program was part of a special operations group, but this was the first time this idea was effectively confirmed.
For those of you who may not know, “special operations” are defined as:
Special operations (S.O.) are military operations that are "special" or unconventional and carried out by dedicated special forces and other special operations forces units using unconventional methods and resources. Special operations may be performed independently of or in conjunction with, conventional military operations. The primary goal is to achieve a political or military objective where a conventional force requirement does not exist or might adversely affect the overall strategic outcome. Special operations are usually conducted in a low-profile manner that aims to achieve the advantages of speed, surprise, and violence of action against an unsuspecting target. Special ops are typically carried out with limited numbers of highly trained personnel that are adaptable, self-reliant and able to operate in all environments, and able to use unconventional combat skills and equipment. Special operations are usually implemented through specific, tailored intelligence. (Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_operations)
“Commandos” fall under the category of “limited numbers of highly trained personnel that are adaptable, self-reliant and able to operate in all environments, and able to use unconventional combat skills and equipment.”
When the “Uprising” playable event was released in-game, it was quickly discovered that Soldier: 76 had been given a new spray titled “Commando:”
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But so had someone else.
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After nearly a full-year since the game’s release in May 2016, Reaper finally received an image depicting him as a “Commando” from the Omnic Crisis Era.
But above all else - 
The sprays are meant to be paired together.
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They are a reference to the Contra logo:
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...Or you can do the reverse, which makes them, uh - 
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You can see why people went all out with the “Commander Reyes and I” quote.
Now, with Jeff’s new quote, we have repeated confirmation of what the two characters meant to each other, even from the very beginning:
“The story that we're developing is actually, like–no, these guys loved each other–like–they're like, best war buddies.”
(Sure, Jeff - “best war buddies,” I got ya)
Even from the outset, Gabriel was described as being “a senior officer” to Jack, but that despite differences in their ranks and backgrounds, the two men were friends:
“Overwatch's short list of prospective agents included two members of the soldier enhancement program: Morrison and Gabriel Reyes, a senior officer. Reyes, a hardened and highly respected veteran, grew up about as far from rustic Indiana as you could get—the sprawling urban melting pot of Los Angeles. Despite their differences, the two soldiers became friends.” (source: https://playoverwatch.com/en-us/blog/19809396/)
The Commando sprays - on top of being a cute gaming reference - show their closeness in their early years, when all they had was each other and their special operations squad, in what was an incredibly hostile, incredibly dangerous, incredibly uncertain environment -
Both in the war against robots
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And in the “Soldier Enhancement Program.”
Soldier: 24 and Soldier: 76
“The Reaper is an extremely volatile mercenary, a ruthless and remorseless killer responsible for terrorist attacks across the world. He has fought in many armed conflicts in the last decades, showing no loyalty to any cause or organization. Survivors have described a black shadow ghosting unscathed through the most hellish battlefields. The few bodies recovered of those he kills are pale, empty husks drained of life, their cells showing signs of intense degradation. It is possible that he is a byproduct of failed genetic alteration which forces his cells to simultaneously decay and regenerate at a hyper-accelerated rate.” (Reaper’s profile: https://playoverwatch.com/en-us/heroes/reaper/)
“[Moira] was recruited by Gabriel Reyes to be a member of Blackwatch.  And uh, during that time she had relationships with the Blackwatch crew - McCree, Genji - they all have their own sort of likes and dislikes for each other.  Reyes wanted someone could help advise him on, uh, some matters of genetics that he was, uh, interested in, shall we say.” - Michael Chu, 3:47 (https://youtu.be/HsJU3PEk9JY?t=227)
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After much speculation about the “decades” line in Reaper’s profile, it appears Blizzard has finally confirmed that - yes - something did happen to Gabriel during SEP.
Something that altered him all the way down to his genetic core.
Fans have been throwing around the idea that “Soldier: 76” is a reference to Jack Morrison’s “Soldier Enhancement Program” number for quite a long time (it’s a personal favorite of mine...which I guess should be obvious at this point, haha), which also led fans to speculate on if Gabriel Reyes ever had a Soldier ID number, and if so, what would it be?  People used numbers like “13,” “75,” “666,” etc, but after the reveal of Moira, the Oasis map now has the above folder in her Genetics lab (a spawn room on the University point).
This folder mirrors another one (or rather...two) that can be found in the LumériCo building on the Dorado map:
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Was Jack aware of the changes in Gabriel’s biology?
The honest answer: we don’t know for sure.
The hopeful answer: yes, he did.
In theory, it would be almost impossible to hide a secret of that magnitude for the nearly thirty years that both men were together.  This is coupled with a few other things:
1. Reaper’s description of his “rogue mercenary work” for “decades” appears to fit the definition of clandestine and covert operations to a tee.
Since it’s been confirmed that both men were “commandos” or special operations personnel for the U.S. military, both men knew the skills, tactics, and values of the nature of unconventional warfare, special operations, clandestine and covert operations, and possible “black operations.”
Clandestine and covert operations are military or intelligence operations in which the first one is a secret or concealed operation entirely, and the second one is an operation in which the sponsor or parent organization is concealed.
The United States Department of Defense Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms (Joint Publication JP1-02, dated 5 January 2007) defines "clandestine operation" as "An operation sponsored or conducted by governmental departments or agencies in such a way as to assure secrecy or concealment. A clandestine operation differs from a covert operation in that emphasis is placed on concealment of the operation rather than on concealment of the identity of the sponsor. In special operations, an activity may be both covert and clandestine and may focus equally on operational considerations and intelligence-related activities." (JP 3-05.1). (Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clandestine_operation)
It makes a ton of sense when put into perspective - by the time of the Omnic Crisis, Gabriel Reyes was likely a young commander in charge of a special operations group or squad on behalf of the U.S. military (I personally see them as part of the Army’s Special Forces (aka “The Green Berets”), but you might prefer a different organization), and either him or his squad was recommended to the “Soldier Enhancement Program,” which likely pooled special operations groups of different ranks, skills, assets, tactics, and potentials to chemically and biologically “enhance” them before sending them out to fight robots.  Jack Morrison, while younger, may have had similar skills or was at least in the process of being trained to use or hone them.  Most special operations groups are relatively small in terms of the number of people per group or squad - the ground level units of ODAs (Operational Detacthment Alpha squads of the Special Forces) only have 12 people per squad, and each squad can break down into smaller teams of 6 people if the mission requires splitting up or dual-tactics.
The original Overwatch Strike Team only had 5 - 6 people on it (depends on if you think Liao is still a character in development or not).
Gabriel Reyes was the original commander of this group, and may have tailored the group to suit the small-team, clandestine and covert tactics he was used to, or requested that the Strike Team remain small and flexible for unconventional warfare methods in a time when major military operations were failing against Bastions, OR-14s, and Titans the world over.  It is not an accident that each member of the original Strike Team appears to also have special operations training, as well as covers major principles of unconventional warfare (e.g. Torbjörn and “combat engineering,” Ana and sniping, Ana and “overwatching,” Jack and combat medicine, Gabriel and “force suppression shotguns,” etc).
Jack Morrison, having also been trained in unconventional warfare and different types of special operations, likely would have understood the need for small, highly skilled, highly specialized teams to conducted clandestine and covert operations, intelligence and reconnaissance missions, and other special operations/unconventional warfare tactics.
In my opinion, it does not make sense that Jack never knew what was going on with Gabriel’s biology, but rather probably worked with him to use it in a way Gabriel was comfortable with and knowledgeable about.
In other words:
2. Gabriel and Jack’s commando backgrounds, along with their early Crisis and OW Strike Team experiences, likely led to the joint decision to form Blackwatch, Overwatch’s covert operations division.
This is likely going to roll into the next part, but effectively, Jack Morrison himself probably created the Blackwatch division, or - with whatever internal Overwatch powers and abilities afforded to him as the new, Post-Crisis Strike-Commander - gave Gabriel the authority to create the Blackwatch division as he saw fit.
Every description of Blackwatch calls it a “division” within Overwatch, meaning that while Gabriel was the division commander (much like how Torbjörn is later described as the “Chief Engineer”), Jack Morrison was the final end in the chain of command.
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(Source: McCree’s profile: https://playoverwatch.com/en-us/heroes/mccree/)
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(Source: the description for the “Blackwatch Reyes” skin)
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(Source: Moira’s profile: https://playoverwatch.com/en-us/heroes/moira/)
And Gabriel’s “Blackwatch Reyes” skin has always had an Overwatch logo on his left shoulder.
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(Which you would think would kinda defeat the purpose of a covert ops division, but all well)
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Which brings me to my next point
Overwatch and Blackwatch
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“[...] after they defeated the Omnic Crisis, Morrison was actually given the top position of power and Reyes was overlooked because he was too rogue, he was too maverick in his leadership style–he ruffled too many feathers. And a lot of our fans have assumed "oh, that's why Reyes and Morrison hate each other," and the story that we're developing is actually, like–no, these guys loved each other–like–they're like, best war buddies. And in a lot of ways, Reyes was relieved that Morrison had to have the more political role, and like, he was like kind of–it's always easier being the number two guy because you're not ultimately accountable for all that, Reyes was kind of, you know, in some ways thankful and relieved, um, and weirdly, we're gonna show how that relationship actually was Morrison's downfall because for so long, Morrison would actually defend Reyes's questionable actions. And to us, that feels more like what would actually happen between real people and less just, um, typical cliché black-and-white "this guy is bad, that guy is good," you know, we want to have that depth of relationship because I think it's ultimately more relatable to all of us as kind of human beings.” - Jeff Kaplan in yesterday’s reveal
The greatest part about Jeff’s response yesterday was that it basically confirms all of the above:
Gabriel likely had more experience and more depth of skill in clandestine and covert operations, which did not mesh with the United Nations’ vision of Overwatch moving forward.  Sure, during the Omnic Crisis, Overwatch was a special operations and unconventional warfare group specifically designed to infiltrate and destroy Omniums, but after the war was won and the dust of the “near robot apocalypse” settled, the United Nations wanted to expand Overwatch from a single small squad of highly skilled individuals to a much larger organization tasked with enforcing and maintaining peace.
Gabriel probably had very little experience with that, as indicated by Jeff’s line “he was too rogue, he was too maverick in his leadership style–he ruffled too many feathers.”  Even if he was and is a skilled tactician and covert ops leader, that does not necessarily translate to public-speaking skills or political maneuvering abilities.  Jack Morrison, however, may have performed these attributes better during wartime, interfacing with other military or civilian groups on behalf of Overwatch’s secret missions, as well as potentially interacting with their parent group, the United Nations (and/or the UN Security Council).  We know that the Under-Secretary General who helped form Overwatch - Gabrielle Adawe - spoke highly of Jack’s teamwork skills:
"Even I had my doubts about whether Overwatch would succeed," UN Under-Secretary-General Gabrielle Adawe, one of Overwatch's key architects, said shortly after the end of the Omnic Crisis. "But Morrison never gave up hope. He didn't just meet our expectations for what Overwatch and its agents could achieve; he shattered them." (Source: https://playoverwatch.com/en-us/blog/19809396/)
I’ve also seen fans’ speculate that, given Soldier: 76′s biotic field ability, Jack may have been the Strike Team’s original combat medic, or something based on that.  Despite being an in-game healer, Ana Amari’s biotic rifle did not develop until much, much later after the Crisis, when Angela Ziegler (Mercy) had joined Overwatch.
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(Notice the two names the blueprint is addressed to, btw.)
In all her “old pictures,” Ana Amari is shown with a few different rifles, but they all appear to be standard sniper rifles.
And all of Soldier: 76′s voicelines about the biotic field are heavily team-focused:
Get over here and heal up!
Anyone need some healing?
Come here and get stabilized.
Field’s down.
Biotic field activated.
Everyone, heal up.
Time to heal up.
Heal up here.
Team, heal up here.
Never leave a teammate behind.
So while Gabriel was the commander, the leader, and the likely tactician of the original Strike Team, the “healer” and “support role” probably fell to Jack.  In-game playstyles, though not necessarily canon, would put Jack/Soldier: 76 close to Reinhardt so that Reinhardt could shield his heavy pulse rifle fire, with Gabriel/Reaper operating around their anchor point, as either an offensive flanker against opponents or a defensive protector to help cover them.  Ana (assuming she is not healing) and Torbjörn’s turret would help provide suppressive “overwatch” cover, or also cover any holes or gaps in the team’s sides.
It is therefore not unlikely that Gabriel formulated and created the tactics, before giving orders to Jack, who - with the biotic field and his louder voice - was the one that then relayed them to team members or other military groups working with the Overwatch Strike Team.
This partnership has now been confirmed to translate quite well to the Overwatch and Blackwatch operations, with Gabriel’s Blackwatch covert ops division doing reconn, gathering intel, and infiltrating groups (“And in a lot of ways, Reyes was relieved that Morrison had to have the more political role, and like, he was like kind of–it's always easier being the number two guy because you're not ultimately accountable for all that, Reyes was kind of, you know, in some ways thankful and relieved”) -
Before providing that information to Overwatch through Jack Morrison and Ana Amari, who would then use that to implement new Strike Team missions, active U.N. peacekeeping projects, or developing new plans.
When the United Nations or other organizations would ask questions about Blackwatch, Jack “would actually defend Reyes's questionable actions” (again, probably because 1. Jack knew the value of special operations and unconventional warfare and 2. Jack trusted Gabriel to lead those operations as he had always done).
We saw a version of this play out in the “Uprising” comic, which, for the first time, showed a much older Morrison, older Amari, and maybe older Reyes assess a hostile and dangerous situation - the uprising of Null Sector in London.
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Notice how Gabriel is snarky and sarcastic with Ana, but when Jack says, “I want to know how Null Sector caught us so off guard,” Gabriel responds with calmer, more factual information.  Interestingly, again, it is not Jack who snaps at Gabriel about his use of the word “extremists,” but Ana.
Gabriel follows up with his monologue that, again, is calm and collected, if slightly charged:
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The “Uprising” comic - and then the in-game Uprising event voicelines - were the first time fans had seen “Pre-Talon” Gabriel interact with Jack and Ana (and then later Reinhardt and the rest of the ground-level Strike Team).  Through these, we were given a vastly different view of Gabriel than other in-universe material had implied: this version of Gabriel was calm, collected, funny, witty, focused, and almost jovial around Jack, Ana, and Reinhardt. 
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Fans went wild for this version of Gabriel, with a major online movement to get the “Reyes Shrug” as an actual emote, victory pose, or spray in the game, and well - 
Blizzard listened
And gave us not one, not even two - 
But all three.
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(The emote)
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(The victory pose)
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(The spray)
While this happened during the Anniversary event (after the Uprising event), Jack received a very different emote for Uprising.
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And yeah -
People immediately used it exactly how you’d expect.
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With Uprising, both Gabriel and Jack received voicelines that...had very similar connotations to them, both said fairly dryly/sarcastically:
Reaper: ...Moving on.
Soldier: 76: ...Whatever you say.
And then with the Anniversary event...something else happened with the voicelines that many people didn’t...quite notice.
Anniversary
Jack received the voiceline, “You’re the boss,” which was rather odd, given that he was “the boss” of Overwatch for about 20 years.
However, there is one other time that Jack Morrison uses the word “boss” in canon material.
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Given that Gabriel was Jack’s former commander and his “boss,” and that this particular comic panel comes after a major plot point in which Soldier: 76 and Reaper fight each other, it seems rather likely that “You’re the boss” is a voiceline towards Gabriel/Reaper.
Not coincidentally, the word “boss” is used in direct reference to “present day” Reaper by another character:
Sombra: So what are we doing here, boss?
Reaper: I need to pay a visit to a friend.
(We’ll come back to this particular interaction later.)
Meanwhile, Gabriel received the voiceline “No one left behind” which also seemed odd given that Reaper has left Talon grunts “behind” in things like Recall and “Old Soldiers.”  It also doesn’t appear to mesh with his “commando” and covert ops background, in which the mission comes above people.
Except that “being left behind” does show up as a line and a concept said by Reaper -
In a very specific context.
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“No one left behind” is incredibly interesting because it gives us a glimpse into Gabriel’s mindset - while his background and skills in covert operations may indicate a non-sentimental, calculating special operations leader, his actual dialogue in several places seems to indicate someone who cares a great deal about his teammates, allies, friends - 
And partners.
Which brings us full-circle
To where the end is based on the beginning, and the beginning becomes an end point.
Fall
This is where we get into 100% speculation territory.
For my additional thoughts on this, please see the following:
My version of the Fall of Overwatch timeline: http://segadores-y-soldados.tumblr.com/post/167176447345/and-because-tumblr-is-going-to-destroy-this-post
My discussion on the “death” of Ana Amari and how it affected Gabriel and Jack: http://segadores-y-soldados.tumblr.com/post/159512959195/alright-so-the-subject-of-ana-being-the-source-of
My hypothesis of Overwatch missions and investigations at the time of Uprising: http://segadores-y-soldados.tumblr.com/post/164417776210/devil-in-the-details
My hypothesis that Reaper and Sombra are trying to bring down Talon from the inside: http://segadores-y-soldados.tumblr.com/post/163200042035/death-becomes-you
Now, a lot of this is all theorizing and hypothesizing.  It may or may not be true.  What I’m going to present here is what we do know, now that we have Moira’s Origins video, and various sources on how Moira and Reaper fit together.
As I brought up earlier, something was likely very wrong with Gabriel’s biology.  He’s the only character of the original Strike Team that does not appear to age at all in canon material.
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From the early Overwatch days, in which we can see that the “older” team members of Reinhardt and Torbjörn have started aging a bit.
To Uprising
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In which Jack and Ana are both shown with greying hair, while Gabriel looks largely unchanged.
(keep in mind there’s likely a gap of approximately 10 years between these two pictures)
To the latest pictures of him from Moira’s Origins video
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(An unknown amount of time has progress between Uprising and this moment, or that this moment potentially came before Uprising).
On the subject of Moira’s recruitment, Michael Chu had this to say:
“She was recruited by Gabriel Reyes to be a member of Blackwatch.  And uh, during that time she had relationships with the Blackwatch crew - McCree, Genji - they all have their own sort of likes and dislikes for each other.  Reyes wanted someone could help advise him on, uh, some matters of genetics that he was, uh, interested in, shall we say.” - Michael Chu, 3:47 (https://youtu.be/HsJU3PEk9JY?t=227) 
Which means this tweet now makes a lot of sense:
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(Source: https://twitter.com/westofhouse/status/758425704530710528)
Which, again, when we backtrack, we find the “Soldier: 24″ folder in Moira’s lab on Oasis
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But we also have something else going on:
http://segadores-y-soldados.tumblr.com/post/167135805485/segadores-y-soldados-currently-in-addition
The short version:
Moira is the Minister of Genetics at Oasis.  In her lab, you’ll find the “Soldier: 24” folder, along with a copy of Angela/Mercy’s research on the regenerative properties of nanobiology.  However, the spawn room on the other side of the map is the Ministery of Chemistry, and in that spawn room, you’ll find this:
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A copy of Moira’s research on “Repairing Degenerative Genetic Structures” with a post-it note that says “Draft” and her Ministry of Genetics lab symbol and name in Arabic.
Which gives us new context to that Sombra-Reaper interaction on Oasis:
Sombra: So what are we doing here, boss?
Reaper: I need to pay a visit to a friend.
And yes, Reaper does appear to mean “friend” in a truly platonic sense of the word because Michael specifically went out of his way to say that Moira and Reaper have only a “professional” relationship between them:
Geoff Goodman: “It [Her Fade ability] has some similarities to Reaper’s wraith form…uh which is…it’s funny how that works out.” Michael Chu: “You know, we obviously - there’s a…there’s a close relationship between Moira and Reyes-slash-Reaper, and I think one of the fun things we were able to do is to sort of hint at some of those things in her, uh, abilities.” Geoff Goodman: “She’s helping Reaper out and is like, ‘You know, I think I could make this better, I have an idea.’” Michael Chu: “Professional relationship.” Geoff Goodman: “Ahaha, yes…good call.” Michael Chu: “You know what I’m talking about.” [Whole panel laughs] - Time: 14:49 (https://youtu.be/HsJU3PEk9JY?t=889)
(Source: http://segadores-y-soldados.tumblr.com/post/167111711575/moira-preview-new-hero-overwatch-panel)
While I’ve hypothesized here that Jack knew about some (or possibly all) of Gabriel’s conditions, he may or may not have approved of Blackwatch’s decision to recruit Moira.  What’s interesting is that Moira’s profile says this:
“Her employment was a closely kept secret, until it was uncovered during inquiries following the Venice incident. Many high-ranking Overwatch officials disavowed all knowledge of her affiliation with them.” (Source: Moira’s profile: https://playoverwatch.com/en-us/heroes/moira/)
But Jeff said this:
“[...] we're gonna show how that relationship actually was Morrison's downfall because for so long, Morrison would actually defend Reyes's questionable actions. And to us, that feels more like what would actually happen between real people and less just, um, typical cliché black-and-white "this guy is bad, that guy is good," you know, we want to have that depth of relationship because I think it's ultimately more relatable to all of us as kind of human beings.”
It’s difficult to parse out, and while I have my own theories and ideas, the answer is not yet discernible.  Did Jack know about Moira’s recruitment?  Did he approve of it?  Did he defend her position publically?  Did he not know but defend Blackwatch anyways?
Did he request that Gabriel seek her out?
We don’t know yet, but I welcome all possible theories.  It adds significantly more depth to the later years of the relationship between Gabriel and Jack, and complicates things significantly.  We need to remember that, according to his own words, Reaper blames Jack for “leaving [him] to suffer” and “become this thing.”
This concept is at a disconnect with the likelihood that Moira either worsened his genetic condition and therefore hastened his shift into “Reaper,” or that she “unlocked [his] potential” and forced the “state of existence” on him entirely.
Or that she was truly, genuinely trying to help.
Remember - Moira’s Origin video is told from her perspective.  Michael Chu said this:
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(Source: https://us.battle.net/forums/en/overwatch/topic/20759241192#post-13)
In her own mind, it’s possible that Moira genuinely believed she was helping Gabriel “improve” by whatever her research or experiments on him did to him (or whatever they found out).
However, we also know that Nesskain, the artist behind Moira’s Origins video, had this to say about Gabriel’s feelings:
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(Source: https://twitter.com/nesskain/status/926674887615188992)
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(Tumblr link: http://segadores-y-soldados.tumblr.com/post/167110576805/httpstwittercomnesskainstatus926674887615188)
Between this, Reaper’s “He did this to me, Ana” line, and the supposed “battle” at the Swiss Watchpoint, something major occurred, and it could be any number of possibilities - a genuine falling out between two old soldiers and “war buddies,” a heartbreaking schism between two men who “loved each other,” an inevitable split between partners whose visions for the world had shifted from each other, or, hell, even a “fake” fight in order to preserve an infiltration mission.
Pick your card and play it.
Personally, I see it as some sort of combination of events, but without more information, it’s pretty much impossible to say for certain.  There are, however, some suspicious details lingering elsewhere.
The City of the Dead, and the Shadows that connect people
Unless you play Elimination or the Death Matches, you might never come across the Necropolis and Castillo maps, but man, I would urge everyone who enjoys the characters and wordbuilding of Overwatch to set up a custom game and just wander around because these are full of details.
First up:
Necropolis
The Necropolis is Ana Amari and Soldier: 76′s current hideout on the outskirts of the Giza Pyramid complex.  This allows Ana to continue her current personal mission of safeguarding the Temple of Anubis (as well as keep an eye on her daughter’s Helix squad), and also gives her a safe place to store her biotic grenades and darts equipment.
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Ana’s look out over the Temple of Anubis
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Ana’s workshop
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Jack’s...uh...corner.
But the truly interesting part is this:
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The “Reaper sightings” computers.
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Here’s the map.  The locations are:
Volskaya Industries, St. Petersburg, Russia (the “Infiltration” short)
Watchpoint: Gibraltar, Gibraltar (the “Recall” short)
Numbani, Nigeria (the museum heist trailer)
Oasis, Iraq (confirmed now that Moira is there)
And perhaps the most and least surprising of all:
Los Angeles, California
Gabriel’s original home.
Now - 
When did “Reaper” go home?
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(Yeah, yeah, and contrary to popular belief it does rain in California sometimes, okay?)
Lots of speculation has occurred around this panel - who exactly are these people? Are they related to Gabriel?  Are they old friends?  Is one of the adults an ex-agent of Overwatch?
Keep in mind that even if he hasn’t aged, Gabriel is chronologically in his early to mid-fifties in the present day.  Overwatch’s playable and background characters tend to have really...vague ages, but personally, I see this family as being related to Gabriel, possibly as a sibling or an adult niece or nephew.  I have seen some people speculate one of the adults could be his child. 
What I find more interesting, however, is the question:
How did Jack and Ana get this information that Reaper visited Los Angeles?
Castillo - Sombra’s Room
Sombra’s room is a treasure trove of implied connections and details.  Something that’s important to keep in mind is that Sombra is one of the few people to know canonically that Gabriel is Reaper.
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(Source: https://us.battle.net/forums/en/overwatch/topic/20753735625#post-13)
Now, this was posted before Doomfist and Moira were revealed, so we don’t know the status of them (Moira seems like a “no duh” answer, but honestly, considering how Michael said that neither McCree nor Reinhardt know, I’m skeptical about how much Doomfist knows), but effectively, Sombra “knows the truth about Reaper.”
Which means this interaction is canon:
Sombra: What's the plan today, Gabe? You don't mind if I call you Gabe, do you?
Reaper: Stick to the mission.
What is Sombra referencing?
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The only other person to use the nickname “Gabe” for Gabriel - 
is Jack Morrison.
In her interactions with him, Ana calls him “Gabriel,” as does her daughter Fareeha when she references.  McCree never addresses him by name, but considering that Gabriel uses the line “Reyes here” during the in-game Uprising event, he apparently prefers to stick with surnames during operations.
But that goes out the window with Jack.
And Sombra absolutely knows this.
Because in Sombra’s room, you can find these:
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A picture of Jack Morrison and Jesse McCree.
Sombra also apparently knows about Ana because:
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She has a file on Ana’s “Shrike” bounty hunter identity
As well as this interesting little tidbit:
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Which shows Ana’s face.
The McCree stuff is also interesting because Sombra and McCree may have had contact with each other at about the same time that Gabriel is visiting Los Angeles:
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Does Sombra have contact with Jack and Ana?
Again, the honest answer is: we don’t know.
But the hopeful answer is: possibly.
In the more recent “Searching” comic, Lynx-17, a hacker who has been trying to track Sombra’s efforts, said this:
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And somehow - 
Sombra has some sort of connection to Soldier: 76.
Sombra and Soldier: 76 are also the only two characters heavily invested in uncovering LumériCo’s shady dealings.  Sombra, of course, had her massive ARG, in which LumériCo’s corruption was slowly (very...very...slowly) revealed by players.  Soldier: 76 is the only other character to express interest in LumériCo, with the line:
“I wanna know what LumériCo's been up to.”
However, we also know he’s anti-Los Muertos, the arms-dealing gang that supported Sombra’s efforts against LumériCo.
Do Sombra and Soldier: 76 have a tentative alliance?  Are they sharing information?  Is she helping him track Reaper?  Sombra was not present when Gabriel went home to Los Angeles, but she is present in the Volskaya Industries infiltration mission and Reaper’s “visit” to Oasis.  Interestingly, the pictures on the blue screen of the “Reaper sightings” computer are from the Volskaya Industries mission...and Sombra was the one running the cameras.
Again - how deliberate is all this?
You know the drill by know:
Honest answer: we don’t know. Hopeful answer: Hopefully deliberate.
Lastly, because this section is getting kinda long -
Reaper and Sombra share one final interaction that is very...interesting to think over:
Reaper: Try to stick to the plan, Sombra.
Sombra: Look, someone has to be ready when all your careful planning doesn't pan out.
Again, does it mean anything?  Who knows.  But bear in mind that Sombra is one of the few people to know that Gabriel is Reaper, and that Gabriel has always been the commander trained in stealth, covert operations, reconn and intelligence gathering, and infiltration missions.  Sombra knows this, and Gabriel knows she knows it too.  They appear to have a tentative trust with one another, and again, Sombra is the only person (besides Jack) to have ever called Gabriel “Gabe” and “boss” (at least, that we know of).  Gabriel was also aware of her “plan” to throw their Volskaya mission, which means he not only let Sombra deliberately trigger the alarm system, he also willingly let Katya Volskaya escape.
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(Source: Masquerade comic)
“But if Reaper is working with Sombra, why would he tattle on her?”
Again, honest answer, hopeful answer, blah blah blah.  You’re not here for me to say “I don’t know 100 times,” you’re here for the hopeful answer.
The hopeful answer is that:
Again, Gabriel has experience with infiltration and intel missions - he’s been doing this for thirty years, possibly longer given his military experience.  There is almost no faster way to gain one person’s trust than to “snitch” on another, to show that you’re going to work with Person A instead of Person B.  It’s a risky move, but if Person B is willing to pretend to be the “fall guy,” they then can try to cover each other better.  Which again - 
Goes back to who has the “back up” ideas when all of Reaper’s “careful planning doesn’t pan out”?
At the Blizzard voice actors panel at Anime Expo 2017, Michael Chu said this:
“Yeah, you know, [Sombra] gets on [Reaper’s] nerves a little bit, but I think that, ultimately, Reaper knows that Sombra is...effective, and so he respects that because he is a good eye for talent. (Audience starts to cheer) Look at that Blackwatch team - it’s amazing!” - Michael Chu (Timestamp: 45:48 https://youtu.be/JPQi61a8fD0?t=2748)
Now - 
What is Sombra effective for?
Finding secrets that are hidden.
Sombra has found LumériCo’s shading dealings.  She’s found connections between LumériCo and Vishkar and Volskaya.  She’s found where Katya is getting her new mech technology from (a group in Numbani).  
(And Reaper may not know these ones but) she has found that Ana Amari is alive.  She has found connections between Ana Amari and Jesse McCree.
She is investigating Jack Morrison -
And has a connection to Soldier: 76 somehow.
And more than anything else
Sombra knows Gabriel’s nickname is “Gabe”
And she knows who used to call him that.
And she very likely knows Jack’s end of this as well.
What does Soldier: 76 want more than anything else?
To find out who brought down Overwatch.
---
So now we’ve essentially caught up with the current plot.  Reaper and Sombra are running around working with Doomfist and Moira.  Soldier: 76 and Ana are hiding out in the Necropolis.  Winston has initiated Recall and so far, Tracer, Genji, Reinhardt, and Mei are answering it and returning to Overwatch.  Doomfist has partially destroyed Numbani and reclaimed his Gauntlet.  Efi Oladele has built Orisa.  Sombra has managed to persuade Zarya that Katya Volskaya is not to be trusted.  Junkrat and Roadhog are trying to trick the Queen of Junkertown to let them back in.  Torbjörn is working with Bastion on something (???).  Moira is conducting research in Oasis (and may be fighting the Ministry of Chemistry to get her research back).
Where do we go from here?
There are a few avenues:
1. We will likely see more characters answer the Recall initiation and return to Overwatch.  Who - we don’t know yet.  Mercy, Torbjörn, and McCree are all still potential returnees.
2. We will start seeing Talon become more emboldened about moving forward with their plans to accelerate the Second Omnic Crisis - now that Doomfist is out of prison and Vialli (who was more content with easy profits in peace) is dead, Doomfist appears to be taking more control over the council that runs the organization.
3. We will likely see Soldier: 76 and Ana react to these, especially if they are tracking Reaper or are being given information on his locations from an “inside source” (like Sombra or even possibly Reaper himself).  We know that the two of them are trying to prevent Anubis from breaking out of his confinement...and possibly prevent others from breaking in to help him, and they are in the next-closest playable location to Oasis.
4. We will start seeing repercussions for Winston’s Recall, as Overwatch is still illegal and formally disbanded.  The United Nations, along with its contracted military support service, Helix Securities, may start making strong moves to stop Winston and the new Overwatch group, or may go after old members who are conspiring to bring it back.
5. I personally suspect we will start seeing more of Vishkar, and as a related connection to them, Lúcio.  Sanjay Korpal - Satya Vaswani’s (Symmetra’s) boss - has shown up in Talon meetings twice now (once in the Masquerade comic and again in Moira’s Origins video).  Lúcio managed to increase public awareness against Vishkar’s unethical and immoral actions in Rio de Janeiro, and he’s a major popular folk hero and inspiration the world over.
6. I also suspect we will eventually see the return of Null Sector in some way, shape, or form.  Although Mondatta is dead, there are the implications that anger and bitterness still linger among Omnics in London, and both Doomfist and Moira have lines that imply that Talon is looking to ignite that anger into something larger.  A large portion of the Overwatch-affiliated cast, such as Reinhardt, Tracer, Torbjörn, Mercy, Soldier: 76, Reaper, Ana, and McCree, all made large efforts to stop Null Sector seven years ago, and while Reaper is working for Talon, and Soldier: 76, Ana, and McCree have all gone rogue, I doubt any of them want to see Null Sector return again.
7. We hopefully will see Orisa’s clash with Doomfist.  Numbani is something like Doomfist’s old stomping grounds, but now that Efi has built Orisa, there’s someone there who is uniquely designed to counter Doomfist in many ways.  As an aside, if she’s still alive, Gabrielle Adawe - one of the founders of Overwatch - may also live in Numbani, and could return to the plot somehow.
8. In his most recent AMA with the Overwatch subreddit, Jeff alluded to the fact that background characters like Maximilien, the Queen of Junkertown, Lynx-17, and Hammond (the rogue “specimen” from the Horizon Lunar Colony) may all eventually become playable (source: https://www.reddit.com/r/Overwatch/comments/7bdyby/blizzcon_2017_interview_jeff_kaplan_bill_warnecke/).  Hammond in particular provides an opportunity to both explore Winston’s backstory as well as motivate Winston to use Recalled Overwatch in a bolder manner going forward.  Lucheng links Lijiang Tower (where they have a base of operations) and the Horizon Lunar Colony together, and it’s very likely that Hammond has a major grudge to settle with them for their illegal and unethical treatment of great apes in the moon colony.
And the one you’re actually reading this longass post for:
9. Gabriel and Jack begin the process of reconciliation.
Yes, it’s “hopeful,” perhaps blindingly so, but isn’t that the whole point of Overwatch?  Isn’t that what the game is about?  ...Okay, ignore the part where two teams of six people go and shoot each other in Hollywood backlots - once you get past that part, isn’t Overwatch about hope?  About heroes?  About how anyone and everyone can be a hero in their own right?
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And doesn’t every “hero” need a “villain”?
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(even if he is pretty frustrated with his...rather incompetent lackeys.)
After all -
this is a song and dance they’ve done for nearly thirty years.
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Soldier: 76: Well. You sure take to this “bad guy thing” easily, don't ya?
Reaper: And you sure know how to play “boy scout.”
According to Michael Chu’s 2017 GDC talk “Thinking Globally: Building the Optimistic Future of Overwatch”:
“What’s important to us is that [the villains’] motivations are not purely rooted in being evil, despite how they might seem on the surface.  As we reveal more about these characters, we want people to be able to empathize and understand their beliefs.  Because sometimes what makes a villain a villain is the extent to which they’re willing to go to reach their goals.  And one thing that we find most important when we’re talking about our villain characters is that there is nothing to say that a villain cannot be as charismatic or more charismatic or as likeable as a hero character - because, like the old saying goes, ‘every villain is the hero of their own story.’” 
And what better way to get someone to trust you - 
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Than to “sell out” a longtime ally and partner to further the goals of your “new organization”
And play the part of the “villain?”
But who is going to be there to cover his back and defend his actions this time?
Soldier: 76: One of these days someone is gonna to put an end to you.
Reaper: I invite them to try.
Sombra, the hacker with her own agenda?  Widowmaker, the sniper who feels alive only when she kills?  Moira, the one who possibly made him this way?
Or perhaps him -
His “best war buddy”
The one who loved him back -
Who calls himself by a number that only Gabe will recognize the full history and “depth of relationship” behind.
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And the last one:
10. I think we will eventually see what Gabriel’s actual “careful planning” is.
Whether that’s bringing Talon down or stopping Recalled Overwatch, we don’t know yet - 
But you know the drill by now.
There’s the honest answer
and the hopeful one.
And you can guess which one I’m willing to place my bets on.
941 notes · View notes
dreamsinger-rose · 6 years
Text
Review - Trolls
First off, if you’d like to see other stuff I’ve written, on Fanfiction.net I am Dreamsinger. On Amazon, my usually-very-comprehensive reviews are under Gemseeker.
For my first post I thought I’d start with a review I wrote about a movie I fell in love with recently - Dreamworks’ Trolls. I posted a shorter version of this review on Amazon. I couldn’t post the whole thing - apparently it was too long! LOL.  Feel free to make a comment - or multiple ones, seeing as how I go through quite a few different points that may be easier to discuss separately. I’m looking forward to hearing what you all have to say :) 
Funny, clever and heartwarming. Characters you care about- one has PTSD. Catchy music, gorgeous colorful animation
This is a funny, funny movie. Make no doubt about that. But there are a lot of touching, subtle messages in this movie as well. Don't get me wrong, you can look at it two ways - on the surface it's a comical, musical adventure about a pair of not-quite-friends who team up to rescue a group of trolls kidnapped by a monster called a bergen who wants to eat them. Kind of generic, right?
But as a story writer with an interest in psychology, I see a lot more going on, if you only care to notice. Without going too much into spoiler territory, here's what stood out to me and made Trolls a beloved favorite of mine.
The troll world is fantastically unique, a place where the laws of science, particularly physics and biology, are very different from our world. For example, trolls use their hair for all sorts of things; it moves and stretches at will. There are certain trolls whose bodies produce cupcakes (that are apparently edible); others produce sparkly glitter that is used in various creative and/or defensive ways. Oddly enough, I don't find this offensive; what appear to be fart jokes aren't, not quite. Also, trolls' skin and hair colors can change rather dramatically. This fact becomes hugely significant later.
Troll culture has some rather unique points – clothing is apparently optional. The glitter-trolls don't wear clothes, but there are no embarrassing bits displayed, so I’m fine with that. There is a charming custom called Hug Time, where every hour, trolls are supposed to participate in group hugs. Trolls actively teach their children that everyone deserves to be happy - that it's important to care about others and live in harmony. They also have this tragic backstory that is not gone into much in the movie; namely, that older trolls must have had friends and loved ones eaten by the bergens in the past, which makes me wonder if they have something of the mentality of oppressed people, who feel a strong need to stick together.
The animation is absolutely gorgeous, with brilliant colors that appeal to the artist in me. But even more so, what struck me the first time I saw Trolls was that none of the characters -not one- fit what we think of as traditional beauty. There are no "beautiful people" here, just regular people who work and laugh and go on dates and -successfully- fall in love. That's a powerful message. Think about it.
What I love most about Trolls is how so many of the characters learn from each other and grow into better people. The troll princess, Poppy, is cheerful, fun-loving and well-meaning at the beginning, but when disaster strikes, she takes on the responsibility of rescuing her friends, despite knowing nothing about the world outside her village. I admire her leadership and positive thinking – she is a great role model for the other characters. Her funny, upbeat song "Get Back Up Again" is one I've used myself to get through tough times...
In conflicts with other characters that could easily have ended badly, Poppy demonstrates a lot of compassion and forgiveness, as well as the ability to just "roll with it". Those are valuable people skills, and really impressed me. She isn't perfect, though - she can be pushy, manipulative and irritating. Poppy is the personification of hope, which is all the more heartbreaking when she finally breaks down and ends up being the one who needs help herself. She also demonstrates resiliency, and is able to bounce back and make good decisions despite all that happens to her.
The character Bridget (her name means "strength", by the way) is a simple, caring bergen who could easily have been the star of a Cinderella-type story all by herself. A scullery maid hopelessly in love and despairing of ever having the courage to tell him, she begins to change when she meets the trolls. By the end of the film you feel so proud of her for stepping up and doing what she feels is the right, no matter what it costs her. From her, we learn self-confidence, self-sacrifice and courage. A truly admirable, and likable, character. Her voice actress' singing is phenomenal. She can do everything from tremulous love songs to disco funk.
My favorite character, hands down, is Branch. "I don't sing, and I don't relax. This is the way I am, and I like it!" He's easily the most complicated person I've seen in an animated film in a long, long time. While he is prone to outbursts of temper and paranoia that the other trolls find tiresome, (truly, he is hilarious in these scenes!) Branch is also very caring, more than he wants to admit, even to himself. As the only gray troll in the village, his color is more significant than we realize at first. He has a dark past that is hinted at almost from the start, and a lot of emotional issues (related to guilt, of all things), to overcome. I admit it; my heart goes out to him.
I love his character design. He wears a vest that reminds me of gingerbread house trim, all rows of overlapping half-circles or semi-arches, worn with a pair of endearingly clumsily-sewn shorts. One of the other characters even comments on his vest, which makes me wonder if it was a gift from someone special… Branch is also the first young character I've ever seen with crow's-feet, premature stress-induced wrinkles at the corners of his eyes, something that gives his face a remarkable amount of character.
Despite his problems, Branch is portrayed as a strong character, who is methodical, resourceful and intelligent, good at mechanical engineering, physically capable and agile. He demonstrates a certain wry sense of humor at times. He is all the more brave for facing his fears out of love for a certain someone. A small spoiler that I think most of us would guess anyway, seeing as how he is voiced by Justin Timberlake: Branch's song True Colors is one of the sweetest, most charming songs I've ever heard. (I bought the Trolls music right afterward.)
The voice talent, as I've said above, is excellent. Every song is sung with so many fine nuances (Poppy's voice trembles, Branch has the most delicate, sensitive tone I think I've ever heard). I like how Poppy's voice goes husky when she's feeling emotional. I love how Branch's voice cracks when he's nervous or upset. I find the fact that three of the other trolls have different accents from the rest fascinating, making me speculate on whether there is more than one troll village out there.
There are very few areas of which I'm critical; one being the use of a few religious terms like "Oh, my God" and "angel", but as they are used in a non-religious way I can accept that. There is no swearing and aside from the glitter/cupcake jokes, no actual toilet humor, which is often the reason I won't buy an otherwise decent movie.
One area that I wish had been explained, even briefly, is how bergens justified eating trolls, seeing as how they can talk with them. Did they think they were just some kind of silly animal that happened to be able to speak/sing? It makes it harder to sympathize with the bergens, even after we see how miserably depressed they all are.
"Happiness isn't something you put inside you; it's already there. Sometimes you just need someone to help you find it." -A quote from Poppy with massively significant undertones, so subtle I didn't see it until I'd seen the movie several times. Bergens have what they consider a good reason to eat trolls –they believe it makes a bergen "truly happy". Sounds kind of addictive, doesn't it? Is that reason all the current bergens believe themselves to be miserable (BTW, why do they have a roller rink/pizza parlor if they're so unhappy?), even those bergens who have never eaten a troll? Because most of them were addicted and even twenty years later still long for what they perceived as “true happiness”?
Don't forget to check out the bonus content. There's a series of clips called Troll To Troll, where Poppy and Branch engage in amusing dialog that helped me understand Branch's character better. While he's often described as a grumpy loner in other reviews, the Branch in the clips seemed to be more social and less angry, with his biggest emotional problems relating to anxiety, not hostility.
Final notes: There's a reference in one of the songs called "Sunshine Day" from the Brady Bunch. 
Although Poppy is portrayed as the main character, Branch and Bridget are really the true protagonists. They grow and change more than anyone else.
Overall, I believe that Dreamworks did a fantastic job on Trolls. I feel that a lot of the people who worked on it have some background in psychology, (or suffer from anxiety or depression or know people who do) since many of their films have a strong emphasis on emotions, and Trolls is one of the best movies they have ever produced. (Thank you, Dreamworks!)
Be sure to check out the Trolls holiday special, and the cartoon series based on the movie, too. There’s also a two-minute short called Trolla-Palooza Tour, where we get to see Branch play the electric guitar.
There’s lots more I could go into, especially now that the TV series is out (still not sure if it counts as canon or not) so please comment/reblog, and thanks for reading this massive post ^_^
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New Post has been published on http://www.worldbestlawyers.com/maslow-on-my-mind-how-maslows-hierarchy-of-needs-affects-business-and-society-2/
Maslow on My Mind: How Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Affects Business and Society
Introduction: Maslow in the Big Apple
Abraham Maslow was born in New York in 1908 to poor, uneducated Russian immigrants. He was the oldest of seven children, and therefore pushed by his parents to succeed in education where they had not. Originally studying to be a lawyer, he found it to be of little interest and eventually shifted over to psychology where he excelled. Maslow went on to receive his PhD in Psychology at the University of Wisconsin, under the tutelage of Harry Harlow, famous for experimentation with rhesus monkeys and attachment behavior. After some time he returned to New York and began studying human sexuality. In addition to this study, during the years of teaching, he had the opportunity to meet many well-respected psychologists which further helped to shape his thoughts on the human needs. The final event which led Maslow to move in the humanistic direction came from the study of the development of the concept of “self-actualization”. It was this study that led Maslow to develop his famous Hierarchy of Needs Theory.[1]
Food for thought: What humans really need
Until Maslow began to develop his theories, most studies on human nature focused on biology, achievement or power to explain the forces that drive us.
Maslow postulated that there were five levels of basic needs that every human attempts to attain: Externally-Satisfied Needs (basic needs that every individual must satisfy before they can progress).
1. Physiological – I’m hungry.
2. Safety – I’m scared.
Internally-Satisfied Needs (needs leading to enlightenment and understanding.
3. Social – I’m lonely.
4. Esteem – I can’t.
5. Self Actualization – I can!
In the 1970s, Maslow further split this hierarchy up into a total of eight levels:[2]
1) Physiological: hunger, thirst, bodily comforts, etc.;
2) Safety/security: out of danger;
3) Belonging and Love: affiliate with others, be accepted; and
4) Esteem: to achieve, be competent, gain approval and recognition.
5) Cognitive: to know, to understand, and explore; (new)
6) Aesthetic: symmetry, order, and beauty; (new)
7) Self-actualization: to find self-fulfillment and realize one’s potential; and
8) Self-transcendence: to connect to something beyond the ego or to help others find self-fulfillment and realize their potential. (new) (This concept is relatively new and many authors such as Dr. Stephen covey express similar views.)[3]
Another way to look at the Needs is to break it into “D-Needs” (Deficiency) and “B-Needs” (Being). Maslow believed that the deficiency needs, once satisfied ceased to be a driving force for the individual, and they were then free to move upward to developing themselves.
If we follow the traditional hierarchical form, we can see that each need forms the basis of the next need above it in the pyramid. Without these previous foundations, Maslow believed that it is impossible to move on to the next stage in the hierarchy.[4]
In spite of the fact that it is very well-known and intrinsically comforting, there seems to be little hard evidence that the theory actually applies to people in general. Even Maslow admitted to this.[5]
A learning experience
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs has had a dramatic influence on the field of education. Traditional beliefs regarding educational methodology have shifted to a more humanistic approach, with the focus on meeting the students’ basic needs in order to assist them to progress.
The most important goal in education is to learn, followed by developing an understanding of the material to retain it, and apply it in life. In order to do this, the students need to be motivated enough to work hard to achieve this goal. Without motivation to learn it is unlikely that the education will succeed to the extent that it is intended.
In order to maximize this motivational desire, the educators need to attend to the needs of the student. By understanding Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, teachers can work toward realizing the basic needs that develop the foundation for higher learning, or actualization.
Here is an example of how the school can meet the basic needs of the students:
If the school understands that in order to function at school, students need the basic physiological needs satisfied before they can absorb their studies, they may consider providing lunches if a great deal of the students do not have their own. This would then propel the learners to the next level. By fostering a trusting, safe environment, with a classroom social network, and providing praise in the form of positive reinforcement from the teachers, the students will be able to focus on their learning.[6]
A real example that has come up near the end of the 20th century with respect to this is the problems that have arisen due to the beliefs on “special education”. During the 70s and 80s when where the traditional beliefs of segregating children with special needs (physical, intellectual, or emotional) was employed in the school system anomalies arose that called into question these beliefs. It was believed that by placing these students in separate learning atmospheres they would be able to learn at a pace more appropriate to their abilities, receive special attention and eventually progress through the system to receive the same education at the end of the program. As it turns out, this did not happen and the children’s learning was hampered.[7]
Managing expectations
Focusing on such human needs for successful motivation can very easily be ported over to the business world and applied in the field of Management. In fact, Maslow himself became fascinated with the field of management and attempted to explain the ability of good managers to motivate their employees using a solid understanding of the Hierarch of Needs. He even went so far as to regularly visit a high-tech company in California to study the management practices in the 1960s. Maslow discovered that managers who treat their subordinates with trust and respect created an environment that promoted a better work situation and improved productivity.
Peter Drucker, the famous management guru has said that “Maslow’s contribution to management was a big one. He pointed out hat you have to have different personnel policies for different people in different situations for them to be truly effective.”[8]
Why ‘Y’?
Theories X and Y, as developed by Douglas McGregor fit very nicely into the Needs Theory. If humans are intrinsically searching for something to help propel them to the next level, and have an internal desire to progress, and give back to society, as is believed by the followers of “Theory Y”, then it goes to reason that the humanistic approach, as laid out by Maslow would assist these individuals in reaching their goals. If we believe that human nature responds best to a positive, nurturing atmosphere, then managers that hold the following beliefs with respect to their staff should be able to raise them up higher in an attempt to improve productivity, and the individual goals of the worker:
1. Employees view work as natural.
2. Commitment to goals leads to self-direction and self-control.
3. People will look for situations where they can receive accountability for their work.
4. Decision-making on various levels can be spread among the company and not be the sole responsibility of upper management.[9]
What’s ‘Humanism’ got to do, got to do with it?
Humanism is the “third force” in psychology, following the traditional studies of behaviorism and psychoanalysis. Maslow, Carl Rogers, Rolly May and many others helped to advance this way of looking at the human condition.
Humanism has a long history going back to the times of the Greek philosophers of the 6th century BC. It has come forward in time and developed into three broad categories: religious, secular, educational humanism. When people discuss “humanism” they generally mean the understanding of secular humanism. “Humanism is a broad category of active ethical philosophies that affirm the dignity and worth of all people, based on the ability to determine right and wrong by appeal to universal human qualities— particularly rationality, common history, experience, and belief. Humanism is a component of a variety of more specific philosophical systems, and is also incorporated into some religious schools of thought.
Humanism entails a commitment to the search for truth and morality through human means in support of human interests. In focusing on the capacity for self-determination, humanism rejects transcendental justifications, such as a dependence on faith, the supernatural or divinely revealed texts. Humanists endorse universal morality based on the commonality of human nature, suggesting that solutions to our social and cultural problems cannot be parochial.”[10]
Humanists generally believe the following:[11]
1. Humanism is a philosophy focused upon human means for comprehending reality. Humanists make no claims to possess or have access to supposed transcendent knowledge.
2. Humanism is a philosophy of reason and science in the pursuit of knowledge. Therefore, when it comes to the question of the most valid means for acquiring knowledge of the world, Humanists reject arbitrary faith, authority, revelation, and altered states of consciousness.
3. Humanism is a philosophy of imagination. Humanists recognize that intuitive feelings, hunches, speculation, flashes of inspiration, emotion, altered states of consciousness, and even religious experience, while not valid means to acquire knowledge, remain useful sources of ideas that can lead us to new ways of looking at the world. These ideas, after they have been assessed rationally for their usefulness, can then be put to work, often as alternate approaches for solving problems.
4. Humanism is a philosophy for the here and now. Humanists regard human values as making sense only in the context of human life rather than in the promise of a supposed life after death.
5. Humanism is a philosophy of compassion. Humanist ethics is solely concerned with meeting human needs and answering human problems–for both the individual and society–and devotes no attention to the satisfaction of the desires of supposed theological entities.
6. Humanism is a realistic philosophy. Humanists recognize the existence of moral dilemmas and the need for careful consideration of immediate and future consequences in moral decision making.
7. Humanism is in tune with the science of today. Humanists therefore recognize that we live in a natural universe of great size and age that we evolved on this planet over a long period of time, that there is no compelling evidence for a separable “soul,” and that human beings have certain built-in needs that effectively form the basis for any human-oriented value system.
8. Humanism is in tune with today’s enlightened social thought. Humanists are committed to civil liberties, human rights, church-state separation, the extension of participatory democracy not only in government but in the workplace and education, an expansion of global consciousness and exchange of products and ideas internationally, and an open-ended approach to solving social problems, an approach that allows for the testing of new alternatives.
9. Humanism is in tune with new technological developments. Humanists are willing to take part in emerging scientific and technological discoveries in order to exercise their moral influence on these revolutions as they come about, especially in the interest of protecting the environment.
10. Humanism is, in sum, a philosophy for those in love with life. Humanists take responsibility for their own lives and relish the adventure of being part of new discoveries, seeking new knowledge, exploring new options. Instead of finding solace in prefabricated answers to the great questions of life, Humanists enjoy the open-endedness of a quest and the freedom of discovery that this entails.
What is holding us back?
If reaching the summit of the mountain of self-actualization were easy, everyone would be enlightened, happy, hard-working, creative, and wealthy. We would all strive to take responsibility for our actions, and attempt to improve the situation around us by developing new and unique ideas. Unfortunately, this is not happening. What is holding us back from reaching our “fully functional, healthy personality”?
I concur with Maslow that society and the education system are preventing individuals from reaching their full potential. Here is what Maslow has to say on the matter:
“The state of being without a system of values is psychopathogenic, we are learning. The human being needs a framework of values, a philosophy of life, a religion or religion-surrogate to live by and understand by, in about the same sense he needs sunlight, calcium or love. This I have called the “cognitive need to understand.” The value- illnesses which result from valuelessness are called variously anhedonia, anomie, apathy, amorality, hopelessness, cynicism, etc., and can become somatic illness as well. Historically, we are in a value interregnum in which all externally given value systems have proven failures (political, economic, religious, etc.) e.g., nothing is worth dying for. What man needs but doesn’t have, he seeks for unceasingly, and he becomes dangerously ready to jump at any hope, good or bad. The cure for this disease is obvious. We need a validated, usable system of human values that we can believe in and devote ourselves to (be willing to die for), because they are true rather than because we are exhorted to “believe and have faith.” Such an empirically based Weltanschauung seems now to be a real possibility, at least in theoretical outline.” [12]
If society is not instilling the proper values into the youth of today, they are unable to develop a healthy outlook on life. This will hamper their journey to self-actualization. The education system is also currently not providing the proper morals, and positive, nurturing environment for students in order for them to grow. The schools need to focus on the areas of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs that are deficient in the student body, nurture them, and help their students to excel in ways that go deeper than just good grades.
Summary: Change Your Socks, Change Your Attitude
In the contemporary business world, a product-centered business style is no longer successful. Companies must now, more than ever before, develop a consumer-centric approach to business. The market is demassifying, and this means that individual needs must be met.
In order for the education system to produce individuals that can reach the peak of Maslow’s pyramid, the schools should also take a similar approach and rather than focus on the product (education), they should instead focus on meeting the needs of the client (student). This will by no means be an easy task for it requires a tremendous amount of time and energy on the part of the supplier (schools), but the end results will produce a much more satisfied customer who is able to benefit from the interaction.
Maslow lists 10 points that educators and teachers ought to consider in order to change their style so as to move toward the self-actualization of the individual. A summary of these points can be found below:
1. Be true to yourself.
2. Do not be bound by your culture.
3. Discover your calling.
4. Life is precious.
5. Do not judge people.
6. See to the satisfaction of basic needs.
7. Take time to smell the roses.
8. Learn self-control.
9. Don’t sweat the little things.
10. Make the right decisions.
These can and should be applied to all aspects of life, from your private time, through education and even in the work environment in order to work toward improving yourself and society.
References
1. C. George Boeree, ‘Abraham Maslow, 1908-1970’, http://www.ship.edu/~cgboeree/maslow.html
2. Huitt, W. (2004). Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Educational Psychology Interactive. Valdosta, GA: Valdosta State University. Retrieved [date] from, http://chiron.valdosta.edu/whuitt/col/regsys/maslow.html.
3. Stephen R. Covey, ‘The 8th Habit, From Effectiveness to Greatness’, FranklinCovey Co., Free Press, 2004.
4. Wikipedia, ‘Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs’, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow%27s_hierarchy_of_needs
5. Educational Psychology Interactive
6. Jones, Michael. “Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Can Lower Recidivism.” Corrections Today 66.4 (2004): 18–22.
7. Norman Kunc, ‘The Need to Belong: Rediscovering Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs’, Axis Consultation and Training Ltd,, [http://www.normemma.com/armaslow.htm], 1998.
8. Excerpted from Maslow on Management, by Abraham H. Maslow, with Deborah Stephens and Gary Heil, 1998.
9. Robbins, Stephen P., ‘Essentials of organizational behavior, eighth edition’, Pearson Education Inc., 2005, p50
10. Wikipedia definition for ‘humanism’, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humanism
11. Frederick Edwards, ‘What is Humanism?’, American Humanist Association, 1989, [http://www.jcn.com/humanism.php4]
12. Maslow, A., & Lowery, R. (Ed.). (1998). ‘Toward a psychology of being (3rd ed.)’, New York: Wiley & Sons.
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