Famous Creative Thinkers Essay

In this assignment there are several great creative thinkers to choose from for completion. After reading through the list James Hal Cone and Grace Hopper became the choices. The reasoning was these individuals were so different in their paths of success, or for better word accomplishments. Both are extraordinary people; however their journeys are profoundly different, however both are instrumental in worthy contributions in society and the world. Throughout this paper we will uncover and discover Cone and Hopper purpose, passion, and for one even pain. James Hal Cone was born August 5, 1938 in Fordyce Arkansas, to Charles and Lucy Cone. Early in Cone childhood he was introduced to religion and had a strong spiritual guidance. James was an intelligent child who went on to graduate from high school at age 16, at which time he became a minister. Cone beginnings started with being brought up in a segregated part of Arkansas, where people of color were discriminated against and treated u nfairly. James early in life reflected upon the social injustices of the poor, blacks, and women. Cone took the treatment to heart early along with his religious background and became a minister at 16, starting to address the differences of treatment. During his early life at college he was a minister at several churches. However during his early period of college and ministry the civil rights movement started evolving and he noticed Martin Luther King. Through that introduction of Dr. King he realized his true direction was ministry and attended Theological Seminary getting a M.A. and Ph.D. James acquired four degrees in a seven year span, a man on a mission with an extraordinary mind. Two things directed Hal’s path pain of discrimination and coming to know Jesus. After graduation with his Ph.D. in theology, Hal went on to be a professor of religious studies, still believing in nonviolence. During this period changes came with Malcolm X, northern riots, and Stokely Carmichael’s   call to â€Å"Black Power† (This Far by Faith, 2015). The direction of society from two important men King and X, initiated Hal’s influence of empowering African Americans Christianity from slavery, segregation and justice in society. Hal knew through theology he could address the issue and started writing introducing black liberation theology. What Hal orchestrated was self-worth with assimilation of the black power movement, addressing social and racial justice for black people, freeing them from oppression economically and spiritually. Ideally Hal wanted to empower people through Christianity beliefs; however he addressed the separate treatment of the poor, oppressed and blacks in the Christian community. Hal eventually wrote many books that were supported and criticized because of his criticism of white theologians not addressing the struggle and differential treatment of the African American people as far back as slavery. Hal also went to speak in China and Latin America concerning the lack of address of people of color being oppressed, poor and oppression as Christians. He took a stand against segregation and mistreatment of all people on a theologian podium. James Hal took theology using it as a tool towards the individuality that contributed to the history, existence, and civilization of black people. Hal thinking really was devised from his thought of how can people be Christians, but be ok with the injustices of segregation. With Hal coming of age during the civil rights movement had a major effect on his social consciousness. This was a period (civil rights movement) where it was obvious that black people were being mistreated, even among white Christians. Hal took the stand against the treatment even though it was not a popular decision. For James it became unacceptable for Christians to treat people differently than what the bible taught, â€Å"Love your neighbor as you love yourself†. Even though it appeared Hal writings and views were racially motivated, by earlier content, Hal knew his sentiments was to empower Christian people to realize that in spite of their skin color they were of value and deserve to be treated accordingly. Through it all the process that Hal used to devise his plan of action came from evaluating and analyzing the information obtained from his personal experience, observation and communication. Armed with those factors of critical thinking he creatively started changing how people of color, women, oppressed, and poor people thought about themselves spiritually. Hal later realized that terms used to address white Christians was impropriate  and that he could have addressed the issue differently, still standing on his beliefs, that there should be no racism or segregation in the church. James Hal Cone the pioneer for making people aware of the segregation that should never be acceptable in the theologian Christian community, God created all people equal and God is in respect of no man. Grace Hopper computer scientist and that is speaking lightly of her accomplishments and creativity. Grace Hopper was born December 6, 1906, as Grace Brewster Murray in New York. Born during a period that girl were not normally educated, Grace parents believed just the opposite. Grace was not a traditional girl, on one account she was fascinated with the working of a clock, at seven she dismantled the clock. Her actions were based on how does the alarm clock work? As the story goes she dismantles all the clocks in her home, first sign of her tenacity, innovation and perseverance (Hopper Biography- Mac Tutor of Mathematics, 2015). Grace attended private school and went to earn a college degree in mathematics from Vassar College. From 1928 to 1931 she achieved marriage, along with a M.A. degree from Yale University. Three years later Grace was an associate professor with a Ph. D., however with all her accomplishments her real passion was to join the military. Opportunity presented itself when the United States entered the Second World War, unbeknownst to Grace she was too old and to slight in weight. However not one to take no for an answer she persuaded the Navy to enlist her at the old age of 37, unheard of especially for a woman. Mission accomplished she’s a Navy woman with her first orders to start working on the Harvard Mark I computer, she was elated. The computer took her back to childhood, now she really could dismantle the computer and make adjustments, becoming the first woman to program the Mark I. She is in her element and making strives, moving forward. Grace went on to play a significant role in the creation of the Mark II and III computer program. After retiring from the Navy she developed with a team the UNIVAC computer, along with an upgrade compiler. While still being employed at a computer corporation, Grace and team developed the first English – language data processing computer (Hopper Biography –Mac Tutor Mathematics, 2015). Grace was the pioneer behind the first English language computer being in existence. Before the team and Grace developed the language computer, computers were  only mathematically designed. There was only word numbers, no words had come into computer existence. Now computers with business language existed, which people in the computer world thought was not possible. The COBOL (common business – oriented language computer came into existence in 1959 changing the world. Grace had creative ideas before the time frame of computers starting with an alarm clock. With her ability for mathematics, brilliant mind, and education she was able to accomplish the beginning of the computer language, which have gone on to universal success. Grace had no restraints, what she set out to do she did. In spite of the times she had courage, direction, daring, and most important she did not have an established pattern for her creativity thinking. At all levels she challenged herself with a range of ideas; from discovery, defining, designing, and developing the computer with the English language. She was the lady behind the computer bug (Berni Dwan, Irish Times, 2001). Her biggest obstacle was being a female in an area of men and times when women were not so easily accepted in the corporate world, especially the unknown like computers. References Blake, John. â€Å"America’s ‘Angriest’ Theologian Faces Lynching Tree.† CNN Belief Blog. http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/04/21/americas-angriest-theologian-faces-lynching-tree/?hpt=hp_c1 (accessed April 23, 2012). â€Å"James H. Cone.† Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York. http://www.utsnyc.edu//Page.aspx?pid=353 (accessed June 15, 2011). BLACK THEOLOGY AND IDEOLOGY: DEIDEOLOGICAL DIMENSIONS IN THE THEOLOGY OF JAMES H. CONE (Book). By: Hayes, Diana L., Theological Studies, 00405639, Dec2003, Vol. 64, Issue 4 http://www.pbs.org/thisfarbyfaith/people/james_cone.html Grace Hopper. (2015). The Biography.com website. Retrieved 01:15, Mar 23, 2015, from http://www.biography.com/people/grace-hopper-21406809 http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Hopper.html Programming’s amazing grace she developed the first program to translate computer instructions from english into machine language and gave the world the computer `bug’. berni dwan looks back at the life and work of grace hopper. (2001, May 21). Irish Times Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/309366344?accountid=358 Famous Creative Thinkers