1. I chose to study the psychoanalysis because of its closeness to my own personal interests, I constantly analyze people's intentions based on facts of human action. I look at human behaviors and think of reasons these tendencies exist, be it evolutionary or learned. I don't think there are any baseless actions for a human being, everything someone does has, at least a small amount of reason behind it.
2. James Thurber's "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" is a very good story, the story wasn't as psychoanalyzing as I would have expected but I guess that is for the reader. I think Walter is a very good everyman character, he doesn't really seem to enjoy his life. He has a nagging wife, boring home life, and an average living experience overall. Most people can identify with this view of their lives as "average" by definition. most people wish they had a more exciting life but very few are willing to take the risk associated with having a life lived to such an extreme, thus comes the imagination. Walter Mitty is often struck by a daydream so real he starts to believe he becomes a part of it. for moments during his day he might imagine himself as a bomber pilot flying through a storm when he is really just driving the car to the store.
the representation of psychoanalysis is not to the degree I expected, but my idea of psychoanalysis is probably a different one than the author's. Walter Mitty's life is a boring one so he imagines himself in exciting scenarios. at first glance this is something that many people do, and fairly harmless but if you look a little deeper into the story there is a sort of dark tint to it. He took one last drag on his cigarette and snapped it away. often his nagging wife has to remind him of everyday things, perhaps a representation of Walter slowly losing his mind with his wife as a caretaker. the final scenario that plays out in Walter's mind is also a fairly dark one, "He took one last drag on his cigarette and snapped it away. Then, with that faint, fleeting smile playing about his lips, he faced the firing squad; erect and motionless, proud and disdainful, Walter Mitty the Undefeated, inscrutable to the last." this story reminds me of fight club, but in that movie the main character doesn't realize that he has invented something in his own mind instead mistaking it for reality, with his companion Tyler. the difference between the two is that in Walter Mitty he is able to snap out of it and lead a relatively normal life, but his flights of fancy
do have some impact on his life. whereas in fight club his other persona completely changes how he lives his life; first blowing up his apartment, and later by convincing him to engage in many seemingly outrageous acts that do make sense in the context of their philosophy, Later in life Walter Mitty might also be completely consumed by his imagination- this is what we call senility, but in Mitty's his case this would probably be expected because of his age.
3. I really enjoyed the poem "Richard Corey" by Edwin Arlington Robinson. The poem speaks of a man of true class, a man who is held in high regard among everyone who knows him. This is a man of humanity and wealth. then one night this man shoots himself in the head. this poem rejects the notion that people held in high regard, people with money and class, are happy because of their status. I imagine that Richard Corey was a deeply troubled individual who had been taught over the years to hone his mannerisms and gestures to exude class and politeness. people don't naturally function in this manner, I think Richard Corey realized how utterly useless all of his manner and class was in the great scheme of things and decided to end himself.
The poem "The Mending Wall" by Robert Frost is a very interesting one, one can take many approaches as to the meaning behind it. it never specifically states where the author stands on the issue of good walls making good neighbors. It is obvious that his neighbor thinks no deeper than the words of the phrase, not thinking of why. the author states that the only reason a good wall could make good neighbors is when there is something to wall in or out, which is not the case here. the author could mean that the mending of the wall is what makes the neighbors close, for it is the only time of the year that they see each other. it could also be argued that clearly defined boundaries keep people from mistaking their neighbor's land for their own, thus keeping the neighbors from needing to fight or argue over land disputes. I think that the author doesn't truly have a stance on the matter, instead just being interested in the folly of the phrase, "good walls make good neighbors"
The poem A Dream Deferred by Langston Hughes is a very odd one, at first it seems like a nonsensical poem, asking what happens to a dream that has been postponed. At first my scientific nature didn't much like this poem, dreams are intangible things, much like any idea, nothing physically happens to ideas because there is hardly any physical side to an idea. but upon a second reading it becomes more intriguing, mainly because it seems to me like most of the poem is filler but there are two lines that seem to really get to the true subject of this poem, "Maybe it just sags like a heavy load." the entire beginning seems almost nonsensical, except maybe the festering one. there isn't too much of a metaphorical idea I can get for a dream crusting over or drying up. it seems to me that when someone must get off the track to their dreams they would probably be burdened by this deferral. most people never realize they have been deferred though; most people get caught up in worrying about their place in our society and their wealth and they don't think of what would truly make themselves happy, these are the people whose dreams have been deferred and they don't even know it yet, but it still weighs on them when they realize that all the work they have been doing is getting them nowhere, Richard Corey is a good example. Did Richard Corey have aspirations? if he did they probably weren't to become wealthy and well liked, they were probably something that could help future generations.
The poem "A Negro Speaks of Rivers" is a fantastic piece, and I can't truly place why I like it, which is rare. It is a simple poem, without very high concepts of human action or intention. I think it rings so true to me because these rivers are what provided life for their respective civilizations, and it was the Negro who tended these rivers. the poem speaks of the resources we take for granted, like water, and speaks of the Negro who has utilized these rivers since the dawn of man. Langston Hughes recognizes the importance of these rivers, something that takes more insight than the vast majority of people have, just as a gymnast is thankful for his muscles and bones and most other people take them for granted. it takes someone to truly know his needs and how to tend for them to truly appreciate the resources themselves.
I am not completely sure what to think of Countee Cullen's "Incident" it is a very blunt piece that seems to slap it's reader in the face with it's meaning. it is obvious that this trip to Baltimore truly affected her, but I can't completely agree with the idea of this being a big injustice. children call other children names all the time, while there was a lot of weight behind the child's statement it is still something that could happen even today. I think that people invest way too much in other peoples opinions of them, I think that Countee was being a bit oversensitive in this regard, I am sure that the children of racist white people still call black people names all the time, but does this mean that it is a huge social injustice? while it is something that should be addressed it seems like the author was so taken aback by this comment that she could focus on nothing else, which is a fault of her own. I can't truly appreciate this piece of writing because it seems like the author was whining, and without using interesting metaphors like most poets.
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Thursday, November 15, 2007
My thoughts on public school and it's reformation
School is considered to be the place where children learn the basics of how to function in the adult world. If this is the case shouldn’t school teach how to lead a healthy and productive life by teaching skills instead of facts? The structure of school today is that of a book; you have different chapters, or classes, that expound facts for the student to memorize. While this structure might inadvertently teach skills like patience and hard work it does not focus on those skills- it focuses on the facts. Skills cannot be learned through a book, they must be learned by experience, and school almost never focuses on the skills that are most universally useful.
One skill that almost no one has, shown by the obesity epidemic, are proper exercise and diet habits. This could be attributed to lack of physical and dietary education in schools. Our schools have become so preoccupied with stuffing as many facts in children as possible that they have lost sight of the health of the students, if this is not a cause for alarm, what is? There should be mandatory physical fitness classes every semester of school, if a good attitude towards exercise is instilled in children at a very young age there is a good chance that we wouldn’t have to worry nearly as much about the rising cost of obesity in this country.
Proper diet is a huge issue in America today; almost no one eats a very good or healthy diet. Instead of eating natural food with minimal chemicals and preservatives we stuff ourselves with high-fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils, and artificial flavors. Most people don’t realize how tasty naturally grown fruits, vegetables, and grains can be; look at the dietary example schools set for our children. Ask any public school student, school food is awful. There is no care taken in preparing the most essential nutrients for children, you could hardly call the food cooked, it is usually taken out of a can and put in a microwave. There is never fresh fruit, vegetables, whole grain bread, or anything homemade in a public school lunch. It is a sad state when what is supposed to train people for life doesn’t even worry about keeping them healthy.
The required classes in school today are very useful at the basic level; general knowledge of math, language, science, and geography comes in very handy in everyday life. To know these things at an extremely advanced level should not be required of students, instead we should educate students in job skills, financial skills, patience, compassion, and health. There are no required classes to teach how to save money, or how to spend money wisely. Our society revolves around money and we aren’t teaching financial skills at a young age- this is a disservice to our children. We also aren’t focusing on any human interaction skills; school does unintentionally teach us how to interact socially, by immersing people in a school society, but it does not acknowledge that this is one of the most useful skills one can have. A person can go very far in life only by being able to interact with people in a way that is mutually pleasing to both parties, but it is not shown any importance in our school curricula.
Parents are usually assumed to teach their children all the skills necessary to lead a happy and healthy life. In this day and age where people are expected to work an inordinate amount, parents are given less time to teach these things. Often the teaching that parents should give is negated by the actions taken by the school, such as the poor nutrition that school lunches provide and the lack of emphasis on general health. There are many more skills that aren’t being properly taught by parents, such as how to file for taxes, and how to stay out of debt. If our parents will not teach these skills than school should. We must educate people to live a happy and healthy life. The preoccupation of learning facts in school is detrimental to children’s ability to adapt to new and varied situations. The structure of school never changes; someone lists facts for a few months and then there is a test on these facts. This is not how the real world operates, there is no give and take in school, there is no compassion, it is just a cold textbook and a test.
One skill that almost no one has, shown by the obesity epidemic, are proper exercise and diet habits. This could be attributed to lack of physical and dietary education in schools. Our schools have become so preoccupied with stuffing as many facts in children as possible that they have lost sight of the health of the students, if this is not a cause for alarm, what is? There should be mandatory physical fitness classes every semester of school, if a good attitude towards exercise is instilled in children at a very young age there is a good chance that we wouldn’t have to worry nearly as much about the rising cost of obesity in this country.
Proper diet is a huge issue in America today; almost no one eats a very good or healthy diet. Instead of eating natural food with minimal chemicals and preservatives we stuff ourselves with high-fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils, and artificial flavors. Most people don’t realize how tasty naturally grown fruits, vegetables, and grains can be; look at the dietary example schools set for our children. Ask any public school student, school food is awful. There is no care taken in preparing the most essential nutrients for children, you could hardly call the food cooked, it is usually taken out of a can and put in a microwave. There is never fresh fruit, vegetables, whole grain bread, or anything homemade in a public school lunch. It is a sad state when what is supposed to train people for life doesn’t even worry about keeping them healthy.
The required classes in school today are very useful at the basic level; general knowledge of math, language, science, and geography comes in very handy in everyday life. To know these things at an extremely advanced level should not be required of students, instead we should educate students in job skills, financial skills, patience, compassion, and health. There are no required classes to teach how to save money, or how to spend money wisely. Our society revolves around money and we aren’t teaching financial skills at a young age- this is a disservice to our children. We also aren’t focusing on any human interaction skills; school does unintentionally teach us how to interact socially, by immersing people in a school society, but it does not acknowledge that this is one of the most useful skills one can have. A person can go very far in life only by being able to interact with people in a way that is mutually pleasing to both parties, but it is not shown any importance in our school curricula.
Parents are usually assumed to teach their children all the skills necessary to lead a happy and healthy life. In this day and age where people are expected to work an inordinate amount, parents are given less time to teach these things. Often the teaching that parents should give is negated by the actions taken by the school, such as the poor nutrition that school lunches provide and the lack of emphasis on general health. There are many more skills that aren’t being properly taught by parents, such as how to file for taxes, and how to stay out of debt. If our parents will not teach these skills than school should. We must educate people to live a happy and healthy life. The preoccupation of learning facts in school is detrimental to children’s ability to adapt to new and varied situations. The structure of school never changes; someone lists facts for a few months and then there is a test on these facts. This is not how the real world operates, there is no give and take in school, there is no compassion, it is just a cold textbook and a test.
Realism
1) A story of an hour responses
a. This story is very descriptive of its character's feelings and surroundings, this is obviously a hallmark of realism. the story itself is very short and only spans a period of an hour, evidenced by the title. In a description of the scenery outside of a window, the author states, " There were patches of blue sky showing here and there through the clouds that had met and piled one above the other in the west facing her window." while this is a short passage it still goes into great detail about the vista outside. there are many examples of this type of writing, it really gives you a sense of being there.
b. This story really deals with the feelings of women and their relationship to their husband in a time where women weren't allowed nearly as much independence as they are now. the story speaks of the sadness of loss but the happiness that can ensue with newfound independence. the woman in the story was wrought with grief for her deceased husband, for she did love him. later she realizes that she is now free from the influencing grip of a dominant husband, letting her be free to do what she pleases. she realizes that she can be happy without a male companion, even today many people think they cannot be happy without a romantically loving companion. People aren't comfortable with themselves and they think they need someone else to validate their interests and beliefs.
2) Battle with Mr. Covey responses
a. This story is an excellent example of realism, all of the details are described without any ambiguity or frills. Frederick Douglass was a truly amazing individual, he managed to escape slavery and educate himself sufficiently to earn enough money to buy his own freedom. This story deals with his early enslavement by a man named Mr. Covey. Mr. Covey was a well known slave breaker, he would break the slave's spirit so he could control the slaves. Douglass was still young, only 16 years old, and still had a sense of self esteem. in describing his trek through the woods in order to get to Mr. Covey's superior he states, "After lying there about three quarters of an hour, I nerved myself up again, and started on my way, through bogs and briers, barefooted and bareheaded, tearing my feet sometimes at nearly every step; and after a journey of about seven miles, occupying some five hours to perform it, I arrived at master's store." you can see in his writing a general description of events without a cloud of feelings surrounding the situation so the reader can make his own judgments about things instead of having the narrator describe everything for them.
b. Frederick Douglass does an excellent job at using unambiguous language in order to get his point across, he describes a situation and lets the reader interpret it without forcing a certain view on the reader. in this story he never outright states that slavery is an awful institution that should be abolished, instead just opting to tell a story about his own experiences. I really like this story if only because of this open ended morality. it also does an excellent job of showing you the wrong things about a certain situation with factual, anecdotal, evidence.
3) the show Planet Earth is a very good example of realism, it shows many of the different ecosystems on the earth in a fantastic documentarian style, with many time lapse photography shots and very clear imagery. the show truly embraces the realistic element, also airing in high definition for an amazing picture of our earth and its inhabitants. the narrator simply explains that which is happening on screen without letting political or other tertiary intrests get in the way.
a. This story is very descriptive of its character's feelings and surroundings, this is obviously a hallmark of realism. the story itself is very short and only spans a period of an hour, evidenced by the title. In a description of the scenery outside of a window, the author states, " There were patches of blue sky showing here and there through the clouds that had met and piled one above the other in the west facing her window." while this is a short passage it still goes into great detail about the vista outside. there are many examples of this type of writing, it really gives you a sense of being there.
b. This story really deals with the feelings of women and their relationship to their husband in a time where women weren't allowed nearly as much independence as they are now. the story speaks of the sadness of loss but the happiness that can ensue with newfound independence. the woman in the story was wrought with grief for her deceased husband, for she did love him. later she realizes that she is now free from the influencing grip of a dominant husband, letting her be free to do what she pleases. she realizes that she can be happy without a male companion, even today many people think they cannot be happy without a romantically loving companion. People aren't comfortable with themselves and they think they need someone else to validate their interests and beliefs.
2) Battle with Mr. Covey responses
a. This story is an excellent example of realism, all of the details are described without any ambiguity or frills. Frederick Douglass was a truly amazing individual, he managed to escape slavery and educate himself sufficiently to earn enough money to buy his own freedom. This story deals with his early enslavement by a man named Mr. Covey. Mr. Covey was a well known slave breaker, he would break the slave's spirit so he could control the slaves. Douglass was still young, only 16 years old, and still had a sense of self esteem. in describing his trek through the woods in order to get to Mr. Covey's superior he states, "After lying there about three quarters of an hour, I nerved myself up again, and started on my way, through bogs and briers, barefooted and bareheaded, tearing my feet sometimes at nearly every step; and after a journey of about seven miles, occupying some five hours to perform it, I arrived at master's store." you can see in his writing a general description of events without a cloud of feelings surrounding the situation so the reader can make his own judgments about things instead of having the narrator describe everything for them.
b. Frederick Douglass does an excellent job at using unambiguous language in order to get his point across, he describes a situation and lets the reader interpret it without forcing a certain view on the reader. in this story he never outright states that slavery is an awful institution that should be abolished, instead just opting to tell a story about his own experiences. I really like this story if only because of this open ended morality. it also does an excellent job of showing you the wrong things about a certain situation with factual, anecdotal, evidence.
3) the show Planet Earth is a very good example of realism, it shows many of the different ecosystems on the earth in a fantastic documentarian style, with many time lapse photography shots and very clear imagery. the show truly embraces the realistic element, also airing in high definition for an amazing picture of our earth and its inhabitants. the narrator simply explains that which is happening on screen without letting political or other tertiary intrests get in the way.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Dark Romanticism
(1) Dark Romantics took issue with the inherent goodness found in the transcendental philosophy, whereas the transcendental idea worked with people who were fairly emotionally stable and strong of mind and spirit, it does not hold true to everyone. People who were raised in a emotionally or physically abusive situation are likely to have impulses that are not pure and true, I know there have been times when my head thought it was a good idea to do something but I knew that it wasn't. Some of the most famous Dark Romantics had extremely disturbed lives, in the case of Edgar Allen Poe his mother and father died when he was very young, and two of his wives died of tuberculosis. Nathanael Hawthorne's great grandfather sentenced people to death during the Salem which trials. the majority of the transcendentalists had fairly stable lives without seeing too much emotional abuse,k intended or not. one can imagine that people who were raised in a turbulent situation would have a less than pristine idea of human nature, as apposed to the transcendentalists who believed that everyone was good at heart, which was true with the situation they developed in.
(2)I would say I am closer to being a Transcendentalist except I realize there are messed up people in this world but I trust in my own intuition to be able to identify these people and not associate with them. I also trust in my intuition to be able to only get close to people who are good at heart and people I can trust.
(3) The story "The Black Cat" is a very interesting story, Edgar Allan Poe seems to have a reoccurring theme of animals causing utter terror to the narrator, the raven is another good example of that. in the beginning of the story the narrator expresses his humane demeanor towards animals of all sorts, stating "From my infancy I was noted for the docility and humanity of my disposition. My tenderness of heart was even so conspicuous as to make me the jest of my companions" in his adulthood his favorite pet is that of a solid black cat, one which loves him immensely and always stays near him. our narrator speaks of his increasing use of alcohol and how it makes him begin to lose his humanity saying, "I grew, day by day, more moody, more irritable, more regardless of the feelings of others... My pets, of course, were made to feel the change in my disposition. I not only neglected, but ill-used them. For Pluto [the cat] however, I still retained sufficient regard to restrain me from maltreating him." until one day when Pluto scratched him and he snapped and stabbed his cat's eye out. one day he was annoyed at Pluto's dislike towards him, due to the eye incident, and hung him in a tree. eventually he gets a new cat and ends up killing it also, and soon after his wife. something went seriously wrong with this guy.
Poe has an obvious opinion of alcohol, suffering from it's addictive grip himself. this story is a prime example of dark romanticism. a person, usually fairly humane and timid, finds himself in the grip of evil, totally succumbs, and ends up killing two cats and one person. this isn't exactly a realistic story, it is extremely unlikely that a person given a decent upbringing, no history of violent behavior, and no history of mental illness would do something like this but it is still possible for those people who are violent and mentally ill. one problem I have with both the transcendentalists and the dark romantics is there is no gray area with them, either everyone is pure, or everyone has a bit of evil that can take them over and cause them to do horrendous things. there are people who are both, there is no one rule than can define all humans, some are absolutely evil, some are absolutely good, but most are somewhere in between.
the raven was probably Edgar Allan Poe's most famous work, speaking of the general depression of death and general sorrow. the bird in this story represents Poe's unwavering loneliness and depression and general inability to be contented. Maybe Poe's most famous works were only written while he was in the throes of depression and/or addiction but he seems unable to be happy. when his wife was alive he was probably sad about something or other, once his wife died he would be even more unhappy, and as soon as he got over his wife's death he would probably find something else to be sad about. this is a very vicious cycle, the more one things about bad things the sadder one gets and the more used to thinking about bad things he becomes. if someone is sad most of his childhood, such as if their parents died and they didn't have somewhere stable to stay, this person will only be used to thinking negatively for the formative years of his life, thus getting into an atrocious feedback loop of unhappiness.
in this story the raven represents his own depression. I think the raven represents Poe's own feelings about life, he only realizes that he has always been unhappy and always will be unhappy when his wife dies. while the raven only comes in a physical form when Lenore dies, it's spirit about life is Poe's own, that he will be forever unhappy, not only because of Lenore's death but because of his general outlook on life, and I think that is why the raven says "nevermore" even when he gets over his wife's death he still has a naturally depressed disposition, but he must blame this disposition on his wife's death.
the transcendentalists believed that people's nature was good and somehow beneficial at heart this poem shows with firsthand evidence that this is not true, if everyone was good and pure why would anyone ever be unhappy? the raven is the impurity in people, telling them they will fail, they will never be happy, and life will never get any better. this seems to be Poe's major disposition towards life, his unhappiness.
(2)I would say I am closer to being a Transcendentalist except I realize there are messed up people in this world but I trust in my own intuition to be able to identify these people and not associate with them. I also trust in my intuition to be able to only get close to people who are good at heart and people I can trust.
(3) The story "The Black Cat" is a very interesting story, Edgar Allan Poe seems to have a reoccurring theme of animals causing utter terror to the narrator, the raven is another good example of that. in the beginning of the story the narrator expresses his humane demeanor towards animals of all sorts, stating "From my infancy I was noted for the docility and humanity of my disposition. My tenderness of heart was even so conspicuous as to make me the jest of my companions" in his adulthood his favorite pet is that of a solid black cat, one which loves him immensely and always stays near him. our narrator speaks of his increasing use of alcohol and how it makes him begin to lose his humanity saying, "I grew, day by day, more moody, more irritable, more regardless of the feelings of others... My pets, of course, were made to feel the change in my disposition. I not only neglected, but ill-used them. For Pluto [the cat] however, I still retained sufficient regard to restrain me from maltreating him." until one day when Pluto scratched him and he snapped and stabbed his cat's eye out. one day he was annoyed at Pluto's dislike towards him, due to the eye incident, and hung him in a tree. eventually he gets a new cat and ends up killing it also, and soon after his wife. something went seriously wrong with this guy.
Poe has an obvious opinion of alcohol, suffering from it's addictive grip himself. this story is a prime example of dark romanticism. a person, usually fairly humane and timid, finds himself in the grip of evil, totally succumbs, and ends up killing two cats and one person. this isn't exactly a realistic story, it is extremely unlikely that a person given a decent upbringing, no history of violent behavior, and no history of mental illness would do something like this but it is still possible for those people who are violent and mentally ill. one problem I have with both the transcendentalists and the dark romantics is there is no gray area with them, either everyone is pure, or everyone has a bit of evil that can take them over and cause them to do horrendous things. there are people who are both, there is no one rule than can define all humans, some are absolutely evil, some are absolutely good, but most are somewhere in between.
the raven was probably Edgar Allan Poe's most famous work, speaking of the general depression of death and general sorrow. the bird in this story represents Poe's unwavering loneliness and depression and general inability to be contented. Maybe Poe's most famous works were only written while he was in the throes of depression and/or addiction but he seems unable to be happy. when his wife was alive he was probably sad about something or other, once his wife died he would be even more unhappy, and as soon as he got over his wife's death he would probably find something else to be sad about. this is a very vicious cycle, the more one things about bad things the sadder one gets and the more used to thinking about bad things he becomes. if someone is sad most of his childhood, such as if their parents died and they didn't have somewhere stable to stay, this person will only be used to thinking negatively for the formative years of his life, thus getting into an atrocious feedback loop of unhappiness.
in this story the raven represents his own depression. I think the raven represents Poe's own feelings about life, he only realizes that he has always been unhappy and always will be unhappy when his wife dies. while the raven only comes in a physical form when Lenore dies, it's spirit about life is Poe's own, that he will be forever unhappy, not only because of Lenore's death but because of his general outlook on life, and I think that is why the raven says "nevermore" even when he gets over his wife's death he still has a naturally depressed disposition, but he must blame this disposition on his wife's death.
the transcendentalists believed that people's nature was good and somehow beneficial at heart this poem shows with firsthand evidence that this is not true, if everyone was good and pure why would anyone ever be unhappy? the raven is the impurity in people, telling them they will fail, they will never be happy, and life will never get any better. this seems to be Poe's major disposition towards life, his unhappiness.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
(1)"The lover of nature is he whose inward and outward senses are still truly adjusted to each other; who has retained the spirit of infancy even into the era of manhood" Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote this in Nature. this idea of reverting to childhood in some ways echos my thoughts on the subject, children naturally stay healthy by playing and enjoying the world around them, wheras jaded adults have accepted the world for what it is and stop being astounded by its wonders.
Emerson also talks about how nature can change depending on the type of mood you are in, "Nature is a setting that fits equally well a comic or mourning piece." says Emerson of the duality of nature.
this is a good example of transcendentalism because of the authors love of nature, but with a slightly more down to earth tone. Loving nature for it's natural beauty instead of the romantics love of it for it's amazing ability to inspire imagination. Emerson speaks of the importance of receding from society and the importance of being self sustainable, using your own energy to continue to make energy for yourself.
(2)Emerson's Self-Reliance is an interesting piece or writing. he speaks of the importance of hard work,"A man is relieved and gay when he has put his heart into his work and done his best." He also speaks of the importance of being able to survive alone, speaking of societies as "in the conspiracy against the manhood of every one of it's members." I like his idea that to be great is to be misunderstood, people ahead of their time are often looked down upon by general society just because of the sheer fact of a person being more advanced than another, the other people resent this man for his forward thinking attitude.
Emerson talks at great lengths of hard work and the importance of making your own life. emerson obviously values simplicity, his idea's of resistance to organized society and trusting yourself instead of over analyzing everything you do. there seems to be a common thread in transcendentalism of receding from society in order to understand yourself better.
(3)I enjoy Thoreau's writing style a fair bit more than Emerson's. Thoreau doesn't try to over complicate his writing, instead opting for clear words that are to the point and easily understandable. I agree with the statement, "the government is best which governs the least
", but we would need a utopia for anarchy to still be able to be peaceful. I think that Thoreau was jaded by his incarceration which led him to only think of the negatives about government. I wonder if Thoreau would want to sacrifice the protection of his human rights, or the protection from robbery or something of that sort. I strongly agree that we should not be governed by the majority vote and instead what is morally right but again, we do not live in a perfect world and in his own words,"[Government] is liable to be abused and perverted before the people can act through it."
Thoreau's Resistance to civil government is probably the penultimate description of transcendentalism's relation to government, people would need to interact with each other less in order for his theories of government to work, having all the individuals transcend the idea of an organized government and live righteously and morally to all other humans. we all know this can't happen but it is a nice idea.
1)) if I were in the situation of being engaged to my high school sweetheart and she wanted to go to a school a very far away, I would tell my fiancee to go to school and let us go our separate ways until she and I are ready to settle down, I do not think that directly after highschool is the time to get married, people need time to grow and experience life on their own before settling in.
I think that a transcendentalist would do something similar in this situation. Transcendentalists value self reliance and self awareness through knowing themselves and trusting themselves. Transcendentalists believed that the voice in your head was the voice of god, telling you to do what was good and true. "nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind." says Emerson in Self Reliance."
Emerson also talks about how nature can change depending on the type of mood you are in, "Nature is a setting that fits equally well a comic or mourning piece." says Emerson of the duality of nature.
this is a good example of transcendentalism because of the authors love of nature, but with a slightly more down to earth tone. Loving nature for it's natural beauty instead of the romantics love of it for it's amazing ability to inspire imagination. Emerson speaks of the importance of receding from society and the importance of being self sustainable, using your own energy to continue to make energy for yourself.
(2)Emerson's Self-Reliance is an interesting piece or writing. he speaks of the importance of hard work,"A man is relieved and gay when he has put his heart into his work and done his best." He also speaks of the importance of being able to survive alone, speaking of societies as "in the conspiracy against the manhood of every one of it's members." I like his idea that to be great is to be misunderstood, people ahead of their time are often looked down upon by general society just because of the sheer fact of a person being more advanced than another, the other people resent this man for his forward thinking attitude.
Emerson talks at great lengths of hard work and the importance of making your own life. emerson obviously values simplicity, his idea's of resistance to organized society and trusting yourself instead of over analyzing everything you do. there seems to be a common thread in transcendentalism of receding from society in order to understand yourself better.
(3)I enjoy Thoreau's writing style a fair bit more than Emerson's. Thoreau doesn't try to over complicate his writing, instead opting for clear words that are to the point and easily understandable. I agree with the statement, "the government is best which governs the least
", but we would need a utopia for anarchy to still be able to be peaceful. I think that Thoreau was jaded by his incarceration which led him to only think of the negatives about government. I wonder if Thoreau would want to sacrifice the protection of his human rights, or the protection from robbery or something of that sort. I strongly agree that we should not be governed by the majority vote and instead what is morally right but again, we do not live in a perfect world and in his own words,"[Government] is liable to be abused and perverted before the people can act through it."
Thoreau's Resistance to civil government is probably the penultimate description of transcendentalism's relation to government, people would need to interact with each other less in order for his theories of government to work, having all the individuals transcend the idea of an organized government and live righteously and morally to all other humans. we all know this can't happen but it is a nice idea.
1)) if I were in the situation of being engaged to my high school sweetheart and she wanted to go to a school a very far away, I would tell my fiancee to go to school and let us go our separate ways until she and I are ready to settle down, I do not think that directly after highschool is the time to get married, people need time to grow and experience life on their own before settling in.
I think that a transcendentalist would do something similar in this situation. Transcendentalists value self reliance and self awareness through knowing themselves and trusting themselves. Transcendentalists believed that the voice in your head was the voice of god, telling you to do what was good and true. "nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind." says Emerson in Self Reliance."
Papillon Response 1
Papillon is a true account of Henri Charriere, a man who was framed for the murder of a pimp and sentenced to hard labor for life an a 1930's French prison, and his subsequent escape. the writing style of this book is very refreshing, it is obvious that the author is not an experienced writer. this writing style really goes to convey his raw feelings about the situations he was in, instead of being heavily edited it feels like the writer just wrote exactly how he felt, without need of frilly writing.
the brutal treatment of the prisoners is fairly astonishing compared to today, Papillon was subjected to a hulking prisoner under the guards control, in order to defeat this foe he poured boiling water in his face. there are many examples of this type of treatment throughout the book.
the brutal treatment of the prisoners is fairly astonishing compared to today, Papillon was subjected to a hulking prisoner under the guards control, in order to defeat this foe he poured boiling water in his face. there are many examples of this type of treatment throughout the book.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
My plans directly after highschool
Since I can remember I have had wanderlust, the need to travel and see the world, but strangely enough I have only been out of the country once, to Amsterdam. I have seen the East and West Coast but not much in-between. This desire to move around might stem from my father, who has traveled the world in various Rock n’ Roll bands. I think a more likely reason for my need to move is to broaden my horizons, so to speak, to gain a greater understanding of the world and it’s inhabitants through personal experience. After high school, most people either go to college immediately, or settle into a career choice, but I aim to do neither of these things. After high school, while I am able to move, I plan to move as much as possible.
Coming from a middle-class family of at least decent intelligence, most of my relatives went to college, and most of these directly after high school. They all say one should have a larger worldview before attending a college that usually cements you in a certain career or field. I feel the more variation one experiences in life, the more versatile that person can be. If not for experiences, why do we live life? The majority of people who go to college directly after high school have their career decided by their major, and when they get out of college they get a job in their career of choice and just move up, taking vacations here and there to see new places. I would rather do it in one quick burst and have as much experience in different locales as possible as early as possible.
There is also the romantic idea of a nomad, one who just goes where the going is good, never staying in one place for too long. While having a home is nice, I do want to experience not having a solid comfortable place to stay. Due to my father’s touring of the world he has friends and connections in most major cities. who would probably oblige me to stay for one night here and there. I also train for a discipline called Parkour, an art of movement involving overcoming obstacles at speed, and the practitioners around the world are notoriously helpful to fellow practitioners. If all else fails there are always hostels and hotels.
There are many ways one would need to prepare for a journey of this magnitude: financially, physically, mentally, and materially. Right now I try to live as cheaply as possible to save money: I don’t have a car, I don’t have a cell phone, and I am able to live off of $25 a week; other than that I save all the money I get. Not only would I need money, I would need to be able to travel with minimum excess baggage. I would have to be able to carry all of my essentials in an average sized backpack. I would include a tent, for times when housing isn’t available, a small number of clothes, a GPS device with Internet capability, some sort of first aid kit, and many other necessities. I would also need to be extremely physically fit in order to endure the possible hardships that come with living without the many of the luxuries of modern life.
Many people travel, few people travel extensively. Before I die I would like to travel as far and wide as I possibly can, preferably visiting all seven continents, and if technology keeps progressing like it has, maybe someday going beyond our own atmosphere. The more varied experiences I have, the better I can comprehend the world as a whole, and what better way to experience varied culture and situations than by travelling? The vast majority of people are complacent in the small level of experience they have had, staying in their comfort zone without ever improving their ability to cope with experiences that make them uncomfortable--I am not this way. I seek to always improve, move forward, and adapt in ways that will fit my current environment. The world never stands still--everything is always changing--everything is always moving; should I not accept this and become comfortable with movement, both on a long and short-term basis?
Coming from a middle-class family of at least decent intelligence, most of my relatives went to college, and most of these directly after high school. They all say one should have a larger worldview before attending a college that usually cements you in a certain career or field. I feel the more variation one experiences in life, the more versatile that person can be. If not for experiences, why do we live life? The majority of people who go to college directly after high school have their career decided by their major, and when they get out of college they get a job in their career of choice and just move up, taking vacations here and there to see new places. I would rather do it in one quick burst and have as much experience in different locales as possible as early as possible.
There is also the romantic idea of a nomad, one who just goes where the going is good, never staying in one place for too long. While having a home is nice, I do want to experience not having a solid comfortable place to stay. Due to my father’s touring of the world he has friends and connections in most major cities. who would probably oblige me to stay for one night here and there. I also train for a discipline called Parkour, an art of movement involving overcoming obstacles at speed, and the practitioners around the world are notoriously helpful to fellow practitioners. If all else fails there are always hostels and hotels.
There are many ways one would need to prepare for a journey of this magnitude: financially, physically, mentally, and materially. Right now I try to live as cheaply as possible to save money: I don’t have a car, I don’t have a cell phone, and I am able to live off of $25 a week; other than that I save all the money I get. Not only would I need money, I would need to be able to travel with minimum excess baggage. I would have to be able to carry all of my essentials in an average sized backpack. I would include a tent, for times when housing isn’t available, a small number of clothes, a GPS device with Internet capability, some sort of first aid kit, and many other necessities. I would also need to be extremely physically fit in order to endure the possible hardships that come with living without the many of the luxuries of modern life.
Many people travel, few people travel extensively. Before I die I would like to travel as far and wide as I possibly can, preferably visiting all seven continents, and if technology keeps progressing like it has, maybe someday going beyond our own atmosphere. The more varied experiences I have, the better I can comprehend the world as a whole, and what better way to experience varied culture and situations than by travelling? The vast majority of people are complacent in the small level of experience they have had, staying in their comfort zone without ever improving their ability to cope with experiences that make them uncomfortable--I am not this way. I seek to always improve, move forward, and adapt in ways that will fit my current environment. The world never stands still--everything is always changing--everything is always moving; should I not accept this and become comfortable with movement, both on a long and short-term basis?
Monday, October 1, 2007
American Romanticism.
The short story, Sleepy Hollow, is a very interesting example of romantic thought; all of the locales in the story are very pristine pictures of nature and abundance. The people in the story are endearingly rustic and simple, the type of townspeople you would expect to meet in a 19th century country village. Perhaps our vision of townspeople is greatly affected by the romantic portrayal of simple townsfolk that was created during this era of creativity. The author also really gives the story a rustic feel by using words that are very reminiscent of the time, such as peradventure, coquette, and pedagogue. The author also does a good job of representing the people with a certain playfulness that many aristocrats could not muster. For instance, in describing the “hero” of the town, Brom Bones, the author says, “Sometimes his crew would be heard dashing along past the farmhouses at midnight, with whoop and halloo, like a troop of Don Cossacks; and the old dames, startled out of their sleep, would listen for a moment till the hurry-scurry had clattered by, and then exclaim, "Ay, there goes Brom Bones and his gang!" The neighbors looked upon him with a mixture of awe, admiration, and good-will; and, when any madcap prank or rustic brawl occurred in the vicinity, always shook their heads, and warranted Brom Bones was at the bottom of it.”
The portrayal of simple people enjoying life as much or more than highly educated people is interesting. The people in romantic stories gain life experience from engaging themselves in something, actually experiencing things, rather than learning facts from a book as was the tradition in Europe. The best way to understand something is to use it and rely upon it. No matter how many tutorials you read about ballet you will never come anywhere close to knowing how to dance unless you actually practice.
The poem Thanatopsis is all about the lighter side of death. The poem speaks of people going back to nature, no matter how you lived your life you are bound to return to nature when you die. The poem says you will be equal to the dirt and rocks, but that all other people who ever died are there with you, you will be in the company of great people from all eras. You are free to spend your afterlife musing with the likes of Ptolemy and sir Isaac Newton. This is a good show of romantic thought because of the themes of nature and the generally unrealistic outlook; the most logical thing that happens when you die if you just cease to exist, you stop thinking and operating instead of going and hanging out with a bunch of cool dead guys.
The poem “the ropewalk” is all about imagination, how even when you are doing something as tedious and boring as making a rope you can use your imagination to make it more fun, imagining the people as spiders spinning webs and fair maidens swinging on swings. The ideas of just getting away from it all is a very romantic idea, we imagine days without worry, without work. I think that we should, instead of enjoying an idea that will never happen, we should learn to enjoy our everyday activities as a realist would.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Early Video Game History
Today the video game industry is one of the largest and highest grossing entertainment mediums. The major releases have budgets in the millions of dollars, and due to their high selling price, there is a lot of chance for profit. Like every industry, the video game industry had humble beginnings, starting out as very basic games for primitive computers. The market for video games stagnated for around a decade, and when technology costs permitted, quickly expanded. Due to the young nature of the industry it was very unstable, with two crashes occurring in the first 10 years of it’s beginning as a major entertainment format.
The very first video games were built using primitive computer technology. The very first true computer game, completed in 1962, was used to test a new computer at MIT, this game was called “Spacewar!” and had two people controlling spaceships and shooting at each other. This game was so popular that it was programmed into all PDP computers, exposing colleges all over the nation to this new format of games. For a while there weren’t many other games, due to the cost of the hardware needed to play even the most simple games. Once the technology prices dropped there was a viable market for stand up arcade games.
Arcade games gained steam during the early 1970’s through the mid 80’s; while there were home systems during the 70’s they were expensive and didn’t have the variety that was found in arcades. Due to the large size of arcade machines more powerful hardware could be implemented, thus giving a better gaming experience for cheaper. The first home systems were quite a marvel of technology for the time; they were small, held a few games, and could be played in the home. It was not until the Atari 2600, with its interchangeable cartridges, that home video games began to take over the market from arcades.
There was a minor crash of the video game industry in 1977, due to many clones of popular games saturating the market, While this crash was minor it still impacted the developers to a fair degree. The system that brought the industry back to its feet was the Atari 2600. The 2600 was the first system to popularize third party development and the cartridge game format. The Atari had many defining games, such as pitfall, pong, and space invaders; it also had many games that are considered to be some of the worst produced, such as “E.T. the Extraterrestrial” which was so awful and over produced that all of the copies that weren’t sold had to be buried in New Mexico. Due to the over-anticipation of the video game market, publishers produced many more copies than the demand needed, causing a major crash in the market that could not be remedied by an American company.
The company to reinvigorate the market is the one that, for many years, was synonymous with video games, Nintendo. Surprising to most, Nintendo was established in 1889, and were originally a playing card manufacturer, and later a children’s toy maker. In the 1970’s Nintendo hired Shigeru Miyamoto, who is now the most respected game designer among fans, creating Donkey Kong, Zelda, Mario, and many more. Nintendo decided to start making electronic games when they saw the success of arcades in America. They began with arcade games, and then simple handheld games, and in 1983 the NES was released, NES standing for Nintendo Entertainment System. The NES had power similar to arcade games, while older home consoles had inferior graphics to arcades.
In America the video game crash of 1983 was in full effect, almost no home consoles were being supported and the founder of Atari had sold his company to Time Warner. In 1985 the NES was released in America and became an instant phenomenon, revitalizing the market and causing many other game makers to release opposing consoles. This was the birth of the American video game industry as we know it. Nintendo later went on to release many other consoles, losing the top spot to Sony’s Playstation in the early 90’s, and apparently regaining the top spot with their current console, the Wii.
The video game industry began with early computers, later blossoming into a fully-fledged industry. The relative newness of the early industry lent itself to instability, causing a major crash in 1983, which nearly destroyed the market. In 1985 the Nintendo entertainment system was released in America and revitalized the demand for video games. The video game console wars have been nearly as interesting as the wars fought on the screens of video games. After the NES came the Super NES, Sega Genesis, Playstation, N64, Sega Dreamcast, Nintendo Gamecube, Playstation 2, Xbox, Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360, and Playstation 3, not to mention the handhelds and the less successful consoles. The advancement of computer technology has caused the video games of today to have near photo-realistic graphics, massive worlds, and more pages of code than one would want to try and comprehend.
References
Kent, Steven L. The Ultimate History of Video Games. New York: Three Rivers Press (2001)
http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blcomputer_videogames.htm
http://arstechnica.com/articles/paedia/gaming-evolution.ars/
http://www.nintendo.com/corp/history.jsp
The very first video games were built using primitive computer technology. The very first true computer game, completed in 1962, was used to test a new computer at MIT, this game was called “Spacewar!” and had two people controlling spaceships and shooting at each other. This game was so popular that it was programmed into all PDP computers, exposing colleges all over the nation to this new format of games. For a while there weren’t many other games, due to the cost of the hardware needed to play even the most simple games. Once the technology prices dropped there was a viable market for stand up arcade games.
Arcade games gained steam during the early 1970’s through the mid 80’s; while there were home systems during the 70’s they were expensive and didn’t have the variety that was found in arcades. Due to the large size of arcade machines more powerful hardware could be implemented, thus giving a better gaming experience for cheaper. The first home systems were quite a marvel of technology for the time; they were small, held a few games, and could be played in the home. It was not until the Atari 2600, with its interchangeable cartridges, that home video games began to take over the market from arcades.
There was a minor crash of the video game industry in 1977, due to many clones of popular games saturating the market, While this crash was minor it still impacted the developers to a fair degree. The system that brought the industry back to its feet was the Atari 2600. The 2600 was the first system to popularize third party development and the cartridge game format. The Atari had many defining games, such as pitfall, pong, and space invaders; it also had many games that are considered to be some of the worst produced, such as “E.T. the Extraterrestrial” which was so awful and over produced that all of the copies that weren’t sold had to be buried in New Mexico. Due to the over-anticipation of the video game market, publishers produced many more copies than the demand needed, causing a major crash in the market that could not be remedied by an American company.
The company to reinvigorate the market is the one that, for many years, was synonymous with video games, Nintendo. Surprising to most, Nintendo was established in 1889, and were originally a playing card manufacturer, and later a children’s toy maker. In the 1970’s Nintendo hired Shigeru Miyamoto, who is now the most respected game designer among fans, creating Donkey Kong, Zelda, Mario, and many more. Nintendo decided to start making electronic games when they saw the success of arcades in America. They began with arcade games, and then simple handheld games, and in 1983 the NES was released, NES standing for Nintendo Entertainment System. The NES had power similar to arcade games, while older home consoles had inferior graphics to arcades.
In America the video game crash of 1983 was in full effect, almost no home consoles were being supported and the founder of Atari had sold his company to Time Warner. In 1985 the NES was released in America and became an instant phenomenon, revitalizing the market and causing many other game makers to release opposing consoles. This was the birth of the American video game industry as we know it. Nintendo later went on to release many other consoles, losing the top spot to Sony’s Playstation in the early 90’s, and apparently regaining the top spot with their current console, the Wii.
The video game industry began with early computers, later blossoming into a fully-fledged industry. The relative newness of the early industry lent itself to instability, causing a major crash in 1983, which nearly destroyed the market. In 1985 the Nintendo entertainment system was released in America and revitalized the demand for video games. The video game console wars have been nearly as interesting as the wars fought on the screens of video games. After the NES came the Super NES, Sega Genesis, Playstation, N64, Sega Dreamcast, Nintendo Gamecube, Playstation 2, Xbox, Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360, and Playstation 3, not to mention the handhelds and the less successful consoles. The advancement of computer technology has caused the video games of today to have near photo-realistic graphics, massive worlds, and more pages of code than one would want to try and comprehend.
References
Kent, Steven L. The Ultimate History of Video Games. New York: Three Rivers Press (2001)
http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blcomputer_videogames.htm
http://arstechnica.com/articles/paedia/gaming-evolution.ars/
http://www.nintendo.com/corp/history.jsp
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Rationalist Assignment.
1.The Rationalists and the Puritans had extremely differing ideas on god and his relationship to man, and consequently man's intelligence and how man should use it. The Puritans believed that if a man were to get sick it was god punishing that person; the Rationalists believed that keeping a person from sickness was merely keeping them from sickness, not going against the will of god. the Rationalists believed that god created the universe at the beginning and set it into motion, letting it play out due to natural laws. According to the Rationalists god gave humans intelligence, humans did not steal it from god, and we should use our intelligence to interpret and manipulate those natural laws that the universe is built on. The Puritans believed that god was displeased with our intelligence and that trying to figure out how the universe operated was like deconstructing god's work. A similar argument in today's society would be the arguments for and against evolution being taught in schools. The Christians believe that if evolution is taught in schools intelligent design, the idea that our anatomy at too complex for there not to have been a prior intelligent creator A.K.A. god, should be given just as much time.
2. Benjamin Franklin was a rationalist of the highest degree, overcoming obstacles using logic instead of faith, such as his thirteen virtues that he wished to improve about himself. A good example of Franklin's scientific logic can be seen in this excerpt from his autobiography, "I made a little book, in which I allotted a page for each of the [thirteen] virtues....I might mark, by a little black spot, every fault found upon examination to have committed respecting that virtue upon that day."
3. if I had to think of thirteen virtues I need to work on these would be them, in no specific order:
1) Temperance-Do not overeat, oversleep, overindulge, or consume anything harmful in excess.
2) Selflessness-Seek to help those in need and use all the power I possess to do so.
3) Equality-Treat strangers with the politeness I would hope for them to treat me with, also trust those close to me to know how to live their lives.
4) Silence-Only speak when it is for the benefit of myself or others, refrain from gossiping and idle chat
5) Continual Improvement-Always train some part of my body or mind, for example walking differently than I am used to to build different muscles, or trying to manipulate objects outside of my range of sight to train proprioception.
6) Exercise-Use all of the calories I consume in a manner that will best aid my ability to move.
7) Nutrition-Eat foods that provide me with all the nutrients I need without an excess of that which I don't need.
8) Knowledge-Seek to use all idle time to further my view of the universe and all of it's inhabitants.
9) Speech-Speak in a direct manner that conveys ideas accurately and without confusion.
10) Punctuality-Arrive promptly and without delay.
11) Perspective-Seek to understand that my actions do not affect much in the long run but that I still must maintain my life at a comfortable standard because of it's affect on those I care about.
12) Patience-To keep from frustration when things take longer than I expect.
13) Realize My Effect on Others-All my actions effect people, try to maximize that effect to help and not harm.
5. The declaration of independence is a good example of rationalist thought, it lists all of the problems with Great Britain in no uncertain terms. there also seems to not be a tone of anger towards Great Britain, but instead a tone of reason, the First passage in the declaration states, "When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation." the Declaration of Independence takes a very methodical approach to discussing one's problems. The Rationalists that penned the Declaration of Independence believed that all humans were born with rights that government should never infringe upon, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
2. Benjamin Franklin was a rationalist of the highest degree, overcoming obstacles using logic instead of faith, such as his thirteen virtues that he wished to improve about himself. A good example of Franklin's scientific logic can be seen in this excerpt from his autobiography, "I made a little book, in which I allotted a page for each of the [thirteen] virtues....I might mark, by a little black spot, every fault found upon examination to have committed respecting that virtue upon that day."
3. if I had to think of thirteen virtues I need to work on these would be them, in no specific order:
1) Temperance-Do not overeat, oversleep, overindulge, or consume anything harmful in excess.
2) Selflessness-Seek to help those in need and use all the power I possess to do so.
3) Equality-Treat strangers with the politeness I would hope for them to treat me with, also trust those close to me to know how to live their lives.
4) Silence-Only speak when it is for the benefit of myself or others, refrain from gossiping and idle chat
5) Continual Improvement-Always train some part of my body or mind, for example walking differently than I am used to to build different muscles, or trying to manipulate objects outside of my range of sight to train proprioception.
6) Exercise-Use all of the calories I consume in a manner that will best aid my ability to move.
7) Nutrition-Eat foods that provide me with all the nutrients I need without an excess of that which I don't need.
8) Knowledge-Seek to use all idle time to further my view of the universe and all of it's inhabitants.
9) Speech-Speak in a direct manner that conveys ideas accurately and without confusion.
10) Punctuality-Arrive promptly and without delay.
11) Perspective-Seek to understand that my actions do not affect much in the long run but that I still must maintain my life at a comfortable standard because of it's affect on those I care about.
12) Patience-To keep from frustration when things take longer than I expect.
13) Realize My Effect on Others-All my actions effect people, try to maximize that effect to help and not harm.
5. The declaration of independence is a good example of rationalist thought, it lists all of the problems with Great Britain in no uncertain terms. there also seems to not be a tone of anger towards Great Britain, but instead a tone of reason, the First passage in the declaration states, "When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation." the Declaration of Independence takes a very methodical approach to discussing one's problems. The Rationalists that penned the Declaration of Independence believed that all humans were born with rights that government should never infringe upon, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Puritans
1. The puritans had a very pessimistic view on god and his relationship to mankind. They believed that god was angry because Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, and he had just enough mercy to keep from casting everyone into hell for the “Original sin” of Adam and Eve. Only a select few were allowed to go to heaven; anyone else, no matter how righteous they lived, went to hell. The puritans thought any deviant behavior, no matter how slight, was highly unsavory; for instance in an early puritan settlement misbehavior of a child was punishable by death, the law was never enforced but it was still in the books.
2. Puritans believed that, through Adam and Eve’s eating of the forbidden fruit, everyone was born a sinner. As most are aware the forbidden fruit gave Adam and Eve knowledge. The belief that god hates us for gaining knowledge is an extremely flawed idea, it breeds the idea that intelligence is bad and should be looked down upon, and that complacency without question is a good thing. It seems to me that this belief structure is very effective for keeping the powerful in power. Instead of keeping the information from the public, they make the public not want the information, very clever indeed.
The idea of a born sinner is also a flawed one, the idea that god hates us for what our ancestors did thousands of years ago. God holds one serious grudge. It seems strange to me that if god made man in his image wouldn’t man have the same values as god? If a human did the things that the puritan god does he would be considered extremely disturbed, if not criminally insane. If the puritan god is in fact the one true god, and god is perfect, then we should really be more cruel and unforgiving. By the puritan rationale all of the ancestors of slaves should have either killed or tortured all the ancestors of slaveholders for the sins that happened so very long ago.
Puritans believed that only a select few were going to go to heaven and the vast majority of people were going to hell. With this belief came the thought that these select few could interpret the word of god, giving the majority of power to a few people, much like the issues between the catholic and protestant churches. When more power is given to some people other people suffer, if everyone is as powerful as everyone else then no one can be taken advantage of.
Because of these beliefs the puritans were not extravagant or flamboyant, they were more concerned with efficiency and usefulness, something to be admired. This idea of function over form may have had a flawed origin but it was still perfect for the environment in which they were living. The saying, “everything in moderation” would be a serious overstatement in relation to the puritans, the puritans were positively no frills, because frills take away from god. A better stance to take would be no frills because frills don’t really serve a purpose other than to impress, rather than because frills are against god.
The puritans had an interesting stance on god and his relationship to man. On one hand they believed intelligence to be an undesirable trait, because of the fall of Adam and Eve, and instead put all their faith into god. On the other hand, the Puritans extreme conservatism and anti-flamboyant nature helped them to survive the harsh Massachusetts winters. Their utilitarian attitude is admirable but the utility was not out of necessity, instead it was out of respect of a god who they thought despised them. Like someone begging forgiveness from their abusive spouse, the puritans were misguided in their efforts to please god.
3. The puritans believed that only a select few were saved from damnation, the vast majority of people were going to hell; the people who went to heaven were predestined to go. This can be seen in a line from john Edwards sermon, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, “They are already under a sentence of condemnation to hell. They do not only justly deserve to be cast down thither, but the sentence of the law of God, that eternal and immutable rule of righteousness that God has fixed between him and mankind, is gone out against them, and stands against them; so that they are bound over already to hell.”
The puritans also believed in the perseverance of the saints, those who are chosen by god have the power to interpret the will of god, William Bradford thought of himself as one of these saints. In the account, “Of Plymouth Plantation” William Bradford readily speaks about god and his relationship to man, whereas if a common person were to interpret the word of god they would be scorned. This interpretation can be seen in this passage, “What could now sustain them but the Spirit of God and His grace? May not and ought not the children of these fathers rightly say: "Our fathers were Englishmen which came over this great ocean, and were ready to perish in this wilderness; but they cried unto the Lord, and He heard their voice and looked on their adversity," etc. "Let them therefore praise the Lord, because He is good: and his mercies endure forever. Yea, let them which have been redeemed of the Lord, show how He hath delivered them from the hand of the oppressor.”
2. Puritans believed that, through Adam and Eve’s eating of the forbidden fruit, everyone was born a sinner. As most are aware the forbidden fruit gave Adam and Eve knowledge. The belief that god hates us for gaining knowledge is an extremely flawed idea, it breeds the idea that intelligence is bad and should be looked down upon, and that complacency without question is a good thing. It seems to me that this belief structure is very effective for keeping the powerful in power. Instead of keeping the information from the public, they make the public not want the information, very clever indeed.
The idea of a born sinner is also a flawed one, the idea that god hates us for what our ancestors did thousands of years ago. God holds one serious grudge. It seems strange to me that if god made man in his image wouldn’t man have the same values as god? If a human did the things that the puritan god does he would be considered extremely disturbed, if not criminally insane. If the puritan god is in fact the one true god, and god is perfect, then we should really be more cruel and unforgiving. By the puritan rationale all of the ancestors of slaves should have either killed or tortured all the ancestors of slaveholders for the sins that happened so very long ago.
Puritans believed that only a select few were going to go to heaven and the vast majority of people were going to hell. With this belief came the thought that these select few could interpret the word of god, giving the majority of power to a few people, much like the issues between the catholic and protestant churches. When more power is given to some people other people suffer, if everyone is as powerful as everyone else then no one can be taken advantage of.
Because of these beliefs the puritans were not extravagant or flamboyant, they were more concerned with efficiency and usefulness, something to be admired. This idea of function over form may have had a flawed origin but it was still perfect for the environment in which they were living. The saying, “everything in moderation” would be a serious overstatement in relation to the puritans, the puritans were positively no frills, because frills take away from god. A better stance to take would be no frills because frills don’t really serve a purpose other than to impress, rather than because frills are against god.
The puritans had an interesting stance on god and his relationship to man. On one hand they believed intelligence to be an undesirable trait, because of the fall of Adam and Eve, and instead put all their faith into god. On the other hand, the Puritans extreme conservatism and anti-flamboyant nature helped them to survive the harsh Massachusetts winters. Their utilitarian attitude is admirable but the utility was not out of necessity, instead it was out of respect of a god who they thought despised them. Like someone begging forgiveness from their abusive spouse, the puritans were misguided in their efforts to please god.
3. The puritans believed that only a select few were saved from damnation, the vast majority of people were going to hell; the people who went to heaven were predestined to go. This can be seen in a line from john Edwards sermon, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, “They are already under a sentence of condemnation to hell. They do not only justly deserve to be cast down thither, but the sentence of the law of God, that eternal and immutable rule of righteousness that God has fixed between him and mankind, is gone out against them, and stands against them; so that they are bound over already to hell.”
The puritans also believed in the perseverance of the saints, those who are chosen by god have the power to interpret the will of god, William Bradford thought of himself as one of these saints. In the account, “Of Plymouth Plantation” William Bradford readily speaks about god and his relationship to man, whereas if a common person were to interpret the word of god they would be scorned. This interpretation can be seen in this passage, “What could now sustain them but the Spirit of God and His grace? May not and ought not the children of these fathers rightly say: "Our fathers were Englishmen which came over this great ocean, and were ready to perish in this wilderness; but they cried unto the Lord, and He heard their voice and looked on their adversity," etc. "Let them therefore praise the Lord, because He is good: and his mercies endure forever. Yea, let them which have been redeemed of the Lord, show how He hath delivered them from the hand of the oppressor.”
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Parkour analysis
Parkour is an art of movement, using only the body to overcome physical obstacles in a quick and efficient manner. A man named David Belle developed this discipline in the late 1980’s in Lisses, France, a suburb of Paris. David Belle was greatly influenced by his father, Raymond Belle, who was an elite military firefighter with great agility and strength. Raymond was also trained in gymnastics and known for amazing acts of heroism, such as scaling the walls of a burning cathedral to save people on the roof. David developed Parkour with the idea of being in an emergency situation and having to get from one place to the next as quickly as possible. While Parkour practitioners, called Traceurs, don’t like limit their movement to a set list of techniques there are many technques that have proven themselves more useful and versatile and have thus been given names.
Perhaps the most basic of movements is the vault. A vault consists of placing the hands on an obstacle and bringing the feet over the obstacle, to land on the other side. There is a vast array of different vaults used in Parkour, the monkey, kong, dash, speed, thief, kash, lazy, the list goes on and on. The Kong vault is probably the most widely used vault, it is extremely good for retaining momentum and is very versatile. The Kong vault has the Traceur running at an obstacle, throwing himself headfirst at it so he is almost parallel to the ground, then putting his weight on his hands and pulling his feet in-between his hands directly under his body. This vault can be used on extremely long obstacles, by diving farther out, or tall obstacles, by jumping up more.
The dash vault is much less versatile than the Kong but has much more aesthetic appeal. The dash vault has the Traceur running and jumping over the obstacle with his feet in front of him, the body and legs forming an L shape, while the body is directly over the obstacle he absorbs the impact with his hands on either side of the torso, then lands with his feet on the other side of the obstacle. This vault has its advantages in the dismount, because the legs are in front of the body you can continue running with less momentum lost due to the impact. One could write an entire paper on just the different vaults used in Parkour, but vaults alone are not the main focus of Parkour.
One of the most useful techniques used in Parkour is the wall-run. As the name implies this movement has you running up a vertical wall. Depending on the height of the wall the technique itself differs. For a relatively small wall, six to eight feet for example, one would run towards the wall, placing the first foot on the wall and pushing up and out to convert the forward momentum of the run to upward momentum. Soon after pushing off of the first foot both hands are placed on top of the wall, with the entire hand on top of the wall, almost simultaneous with this hand placement the second foot pushes up and away from the wall allowing the entire body to either land on top of the wall or go over the wall without the feet touching the top. On taller wall-runs the Traceur would push off the wall with a hand also and grip the top of the wall with only one hand.
Another of the most important techniques is the cat grab or cat leap, a way to position your body hanging from the top of a wall. If jumping from a standing position the Traceur jumps at the wall and swings his feet forward in a tucked position, grabbing the top of the wall with his hands. The Traceur is left with the bottom of his feet touching the side of the wall, knees near the chest, and the hands on top of the wall. The other part of this is the climb-up, With the bottoms of the feet touching the wall a traceur pushes off with his feet and pulls up with his arms, the critical moment coming when the chest is almost level with the top of the wall. At this juncture the traceur must have enough upward momentum to reposition his hands the entire surface of both hands is on top of the wall then pushing up and thus having the waist at the top of the wall. Very experienced Traceurs can hang from a wall and within less that a second they are on top of the wall.
While the discipline is defined by its movement that is not to say that there is not a mental aspect. Many very experienced Traceurs use the Parkour mindset to not only overcome physical obstacles but mental and emotional barriers as well. When one trains to overcome physical obstacles that seem insurmountable one stops thinking about what is possible and impossible, one only thinks about how best to overcome what is. The Parkour community also has a way of seeing all the good things in a bad situation. If shoes don’t grip well on walls then better technique is needed; is shoes don’t have much cushion then better technique is needed to keep from hurting your feet upon impact. This mindset goes farther than just with Parkour, essentially giving the mindset that anything that is difficult will reward you in some way.
From it’s humble beginnings in Lisses to it’s increasing popularity around the world, Parkour has benefited from modern technology, videos are spread via youtube and people meet each other through forums. It’s core philosophy of moving quickly and efficiently, without letting barriers and obstacles impede progress can be seen as a return to the natural movement we see animals, such as monkeys and lemurs, performing. Many of the names of movements are inspired by animals they imitate, the cat grab, monkey vault, and so on. Many people see Parkour as skateboarding without the board but I see it as so much more, a way to master my environment and move as best as I am able.
Perhaps the most basic of movements is the vault. A vault consists of placing the hands on an obstacle and bringing the feet over the obstacle, to land on the other side. There is a vast array of different vaults used in Parkour, the monkey, kong, dash, speed, thief, kash, lazy, the list goes on and on. The Kong vault is probably the most widely used vault, it is extremely good for retaining momentum and is very versatile. The Kong vault has the Traceur running at an obstacle, throwing himself headfirst at it so he is almost parallel to the ground, then putting his weight on his hands and pulling his feet in-between his hands directly under his body. This vault can be used on extremely long obstacles, by diving farther out, or tall obstacles, by jumping up more.
The dash vault is much less versatile than the Kong but has much more aesthetic appeal. The dash vault has the Traceur running and jumping over the obstacle with his feet in front of him, the body and legs forming an L shape, while the body is directly over the obstacle he absorbs the impact with his hands on either side of the torso, then lands with his feet on the other side of the obstacle. This vault has its advantages in the dismount, because the legs are in front of the body you can continue running with less momentum lost due to the impact. One could write an entire paper on just the different vaults used in Parkour, but vaults alone are not the main focus of Parkour.
One of the most useful techniques used in Parkour is the wall-run. As the name implies this movement has you running up a vertical wall. Depending on the height of the wall the technique itself differs. For a relatively small wall, six to eight feet for example, one would run towards the wall, placing the first foot on the wall and pushing up and out to convert the forward momentum of the run to upward momentum. Soon after pushing off of the first foot both hands are placed on top of the wall, with the entire hand on top of the wall, almost simultaneous with this hand placement the second foot pushes up and away from the wall allowing the entire body to either land on top of the wall or go over the wall without the feet touching the top. On taller wall-runs the Traceur would push off the wall with a hand also and grip the top of the wall with only one hand.
Another of the most important techniques is the cat grab or cat leap, a way to position your body hanging from the top of a wall. If jumping from a standing position the Traceur jumps at the wall and swings his feet forward in a tucked position, grabbing the top of the wall with his hands. The Traceur is left with the bottom of his feet touching the side of the wall, knees near the chest, and the hands on top of the wall. The other part of this is the climb-up, With the bottoms of the feet touching the wall a traceur pushes off with his feet and pulls up with his arms, the critical moment coming when the chest is almost level with the top of the wall. At this juncture the traceur must have enough upward momentum to reposition his hands the entire surface of both hands is on top of the wall then pushing up and thus having the waist at the top of the wall. Very experienced Traceurs can hang from a wall and within less that a second they are on top of the wall.
While the discipline is defined by its movement that is not to say that there is not a mental aspect. Many very experienced Traceurs use the Parkour mindset to not only overcome physical obstacles but mental and emotional barriers as well. When one trains to overcome physical obstacles that seem insurmountable one stops thinking about what is possible and impossible, one only thinks about how best to overcome what is. The Parkour community also has a way of seeing all the good things in a bad situation. If shoes don’t grip well on walls then better technique is needed; is shoes don’t have much cushion then better technique is needed to keep from hurting your feet upon impact. This mindset goes farther than just with Parkour, essentially giving the mindset that anything that is difficult will reward you in some way.
From it’s humble beginnings in Lisses to it’s increasing popularity around the world, Parkour has benefited from modern technology, videos are spread via youtube and people meet each other through forums. It’s core philosophy of moving quickly and efficiently, without letting barriers and obstacles impede progress can be seen as a return to the natural movement we see animals, such as monkeys and lemurs, performing. Many of the names of movements are inspired by animals they imitate, the cat grab, monkey vault, and so on. Many people see Parkour as skateboarding without the board but I see it as so much more, a way to master my environment and move as best as I am able.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
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