Control, illusion

Increased risk taking Individuals tend to take greater risks when they operate within a group rather than alone. Various explanations have been suggested, namely the illusion that the system they control is invulnerable, the diffusion of responsibility for any potential problems, the presence of persuasive persons who may take risky positions and the increased familiarization of the problem through discussions. 

The typical person is influenced by both an optimistic bias and an illusion of control (Frewer et al., 1994). When these are lost or compromised, panic can occur. While panic disorder can afflict an individual, panic also occurs as a collective phenomena. While it has been thought that emotional instability will lead some people to be more likely to panic, this is not always found. However, people who are emotionally unstable are more likely to attach importance to information provided during the crises than more emotionally stable individuals (Verbeke and Van Kenhove, 2002). Furthermore, some people are more likely to believe they are sick or affected than others. Feldman et al. (1999) examined the panic predisposition of people based on their classification by the big five personality factors. People were inoculated with a common cold virus, and those who were classified as neurotic were more likely to report unfounded illness and more symptoms than other groups. In contrast to this, openness to experience was associated with reporting unfounded symptoms in those with verifiable colds, whereas conscientiousness was associated with reporting unfounded illness in those who were not ill (Feldman et al, 1999). 

There are two classes of such processes, those that have become established in any certain era of the world s progress, and these stand revealed in the seemingly fixed and varying forms of nature. However, we see that every form and its fixity are but illusions, for these are ever disappearing and reappearing, yet they manifest themselves apart from human consciousness and control. Then there are those processes which the mind of man may invent or devise, which give him certain definite powers over those natural forces that ordinarily are quite beyond his control. 

New head designs (Chapter 4) have given the CMP engineer an additional knob to control across-wafer nonuniformities by varying the distribution of backside wafer pressure. However, the different pressure zones within these heads have a tendency to interact, and independent control of the wafer edge has been illusive. 

Once Luxemburg began thinking of the revolution as analogous to a complex natural process, she concluded that the role of a vanguard party was inevitably limited. Such processes are far too complicated to be well understood, let alone directed or planned in advance. She was deeply impressed by the autonomous popular initiatives taken all over Russia after the shooting of the crowd before the Winter Palace in 1905. Her description, which I quote at length, invokes metaphors from nature to convey her conviction that centralized control is an illusion. 

The objects of this exercise in geometry were under no illusions about its purpose. When they were finally free to talk, refugees in Somalia told their interviewers that the new settlement pattern was devised to control dissidence and rebellion, to prevent people from leaving, to make it easier to watch the people," to control the crops, to register possessions and livestock, and (in Wollega) to allow them to take our boys to war more easily. ... 

Zause Bacterial and fungal rots. Hyacinths ire subject to a number of rot diseases. Rots ire prevalent in poorly drained soil control urrough careful bulb selection and culture,. or tips on buying healthy bulbs, see the illus-.ration on page 49. 

Disaster victims may show symptoms of acute stress disorder as defined by DSM-IV-TR. Some individuals develop acute responses when they learn of past chronic exposure. Others may attribute stress symptoms to physiological effects of the chemical agent (Weisaeth 1994). Symptoms also can result from ordinary stressful events following a major disaster (Soloman and Canino 1990). The acute phase of stress may lead to posttraumatic stress disorder or other mood disorder symptoms. Outcome varies with the degree of disaster training, the severity of the threat, and the amount of control experienced by the individual (Weisaeth 1994). Predictors of poorer outcomes include lack of community involvement and poor social supports and communication (Weisaeth 1994). Self-blaming for the trauma predicts better outcome by maintaining the illusion of control (Solomon and Smith 1994). 

But in another way, our wish for control creates a dangerous illusion. In fact, we have no idea what the future holds. We can t ever be sure how our actions will affect our future. Maybe the money we wisely invested will be lost in the stock market, while the silly hobby we took up on impulse turns into a million-dollar career. That doesn t mean we should stop saving money or pursue frivolous pipe dreams. But it does mean that we shouldn t waste time feeling anxious or insufficient, wishing we could control a future that will take its own course. 

The lessons of business are mainly about attitude, teaching us not only about our greatness but also our need for humility, grace, and respect for all things. At a certain point, business teaches us to give up our illusion of control. Can we give up those aspects of our business that we believe we ve molded with our bare hands, created out of nothing Would that open us up to chaos I believe it opens us up to wonder and miracles. Isn t that what happens... 

It is interesting that, since its inception, the holy grail in CZE has been a mechanism to control EOF. The application of radial field in a manner that controls the magnitude of the zeta potential (or the thickness of the double layer) on the capillary wall would, in theory, allow one to simply dial up the desired magnitude of EOF. This mechanism has been illusive for the better part of 15 years, still has not been determined, but clearly still is of interest. ... 

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