Understanding Order and Chaos

Throughout the duration of this course my personal definition of order and chaos has been modified and expanded several times. My definition has also become more refined and I can now better explain my views on order and chaos to others. Upon completion of this course I have decided to categorize order and chaos into three separate parts: order and chaos within the self, between self and others, and between self and the universe. These sections should be analyzed independently as well as together to formulate a proper understanding of order and chaos.

Order and chaos are in a constant struggle for balance in any given system. The first system we studied was our own personal identity and sense of self. When we discuss self we are not only talking about our bodies and minds, but also our souls, spirits, personality, memory, and personal actions. All of these factors are important when we try to understand the order and chaos we create within ourselves. The first article we read in this class was the article by Benjamin Franklin from his autobiography that showed his struggle to live a life of virtue. He organized his life and recorded every misdeed on a daily basis so that he could track his progress and make improvements on his own personal character when needed. One of the most important parts of this process was his creation of thirteen key virtues that he tried to follow. His third virtue and its definition was “ORDER. Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time” (Franklin, p. 1). Franklin planned out his life and organized all the virtues he wanted to follow in the hopes that he would become a better person and others would follow his lead.

The double nature of order and chaos has been pondered for millennium, going back as far as Confucius and Aristotle. However, only in the last few centuries have philosophers created acceptable theories on the creation of the order and chaos found in each of us. Some of the most popular theories of the Enlightenment include The Blank Slate, The Noble Savage, and The Ghost in the Machine. All three ideas discuss the purpose of this order and chaos as well as its origin. The idea of the noble savage first appeared when Europeans studied the actions of indigenous and wild people of the places they were conquering during the Age of Imperialism. The concept of the noble savage “captures the belief that humans in their natural state are selfless, peaceable, and untroubled, and that blights such as greed, anxiety, and violence are the products of civilization” (Pinker p. 49). When I think of the noble savage I see a man who is in tune with the heartbeat of nature and his mind is incredibly disciplined. His thoughts are focused and clear. When he is on the hunt his conscious mind only focuses on his prey while the rest of his mind carefully watches his surroundings for danger. This internal order of his mind, thoughts, and actions allows him to survive in a dangerous world of chaos and disorder.

The best way to understand the order and chaos that exists between the self and others is by observing the constant change of government, politics, and society throughout history. History is made up of cycles that historians study to find patterns and repetitions in both the history of civilizations and natural history. Karl Marx studied the class structure of different European societies and governments in an attempt to predict the effects of the Industrial Revolution. He thought the working class in an industrial nation would eventually rise up and overthrow their oppressors in the upper class. Marx saw the creation of two social classes that had been continually fighting ever since the beginning of civilization. In his greatest work, The Communist Manifesto, Marx said “Society as a whole is more and more splitting up into two great hostile camps, into two great classes directly facing each other – bourgeoisie and proletariat” (Marx p. 81). He saw these two powerful classes fighting in revolution and war (chaos) until ultimate power resided with the victor. Then peace and prosperity would return with the new established government taking command and enforcing the laws (order) of the people.

When we look at the order and chaos found in the universe outside of ourselves and the people around us it can be a little overwhelming. Through careful observations and steady research, scientists have begun to better understand the order and chaos in our world and to a larger extent, the universe. One of the greatest examples of order and chaos in nature is evolution. In the theory of natural selection, variations occur randomly (chaos) in the genetic makeup of an organism and this variation can decrease or increase the chances of its survival. However, the variations are limited by the genetic material available from the parents and by the automatic arrangement of the chromosomes during fertilization. Charles Darwin once said, “It may metaphysically be said that natural selection is daily and hourly scrutinizing, throughout the world, the slightest variations; rejecting those that are bad, preserving and adding up all that are good; silently and insensibly working, whenever and wherever opportunity offers, at the improvement of each organic being in relation to its organic and inorganic conditions of life” (Darwin p. 177). He is explaining that even though variation occurs nature prunes away the variations that are not meant to survive. Nature is chaotic, and yet it serves as an organizer and sorter of all the variations that appear in organisms as part of natural selection and evolution.

One of the last sections we covered in this course was the order and chaos we observe in the universe. We studied the research of Dr. Lorenz on chaos theory and the Butterfly Effect to find our own interpretations of order and chaos in the world. Lorenz accidentally discovered the Butterfly Effect while studying weather patterns and cycles. He originally saw the fluid motion of the weather as a predictable form of chaos. Then he accidentally typed in his numbers that would begin his weather predictions with miniscule decimal places left off. This error led to the discovery of the Butterfly Effect. “Had he stopped with the Butterfly Effect, an image of predictability giving way to pure randomness, then Lorenz would have produced no more than a piece of very bad news” (Gleick p. 254). Instead he continued down this new line of research and came up with the idea that nothing can be predicted indefinitely because of the Butterfly Effect. The Butterfly Effect says that if a butterfly flaps its wings in New York it can create a storm over Hong Kong. This shows that although we can predict some things in our universe, we can only go so far in our predictions. The constant change and ever present entropy of our universe prevents us from seeing into the future with absolute certainty.

This class has been enormously helpful for me in my search to better understand myself, others, and the world around me. In particular, my ideas on order and chaos have become much more defined and I have a much greater appreciation for the order and chaos in my life.

Sources:
Benjamin Franklin. Autobiography.
Steven Pinker. “The Blank Slate, the Noble Savage, and the Ghost in the Machine,” from The Blank Slate. Viking, 2002, pp. 1-29.
Karl Marx. The Communist Manifesto. 1848.
Charles Darwin. “Introduction,” “Variations under Nature,” “Struggle for Existence,” and “Natural Selection,” from The Origin of Species. 1859.
James Gleick. “Prologue,” “The Butterfly Effect,” and “Chaos and Beyond,” from Chaos: Making a New Science. Viking, 1987, pp. 1-31, 301-317.

Picture Taken from: http://www.rfractals.net/gallery/main.php/v/JuliaSets/Order+and+Chaos.jpg_files/OrderandChaos.jpg

Chaos Theory and The Butterfly Effect

My original idea of chaos has been altered numerous times during this term. I originally viewed chaos as an unexplainable force that existed all around us. I did not think it could be measured except perhaps in the opposition to order in the universe. For example, if we knew everything we potential could know in the universe and there was still something left over, I would have defined that as chaos. Professor Jacobson’s lecture as well as recent articles in the Core Reader have taught me that there is order to chaos and it can be measured and defined. Chaos Theory has become a major part of advanced science and mathematics over the last couple decades.

The use of mathematics when calculating chaos was what surprised me the most. I was surprised when Professor Jacobson made the lecture about mathematics and related it to chaos instead of the other way around. I liked his explanation of a dynamic system in relation to chaos theory, even though he gave too many examples of random number generators and probability tests than was necessary as proof.

The most interesting part about chaos theory for me is the concept known as the Butterfly Effect. Both Professor Jacobson and the Gleick article touched on this topic which is essential to order and chaos. I personally have loved the concept of the Butterfly Effect from a very early age. Watching movies like Terminator, Back To The Future, and The Time Machine as a kid gave me early exposure to the Butterfly Effect. My father and I would spend hours discussing the concept of time travel and time in general. The Butterfly Effect always made an appearance during those debates and ever since I have been fascinated with the notion that the smallest change at a single point in time and space can alter the future anywhere in the universe.

Picture taken from: http://cwaichert.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/chaos-theory.jpg

An Enquiry into Evolution

This past Friday I attended the lecture on evolution by Professor Kjar and I found it to be very enlightening. From a biological standpoint, evolution is the change in the genetic composition of a population of living organisms throughout successive generations. This is believed to be a result of natural selection acting on the genetic variation among the DNA of individuals. Eventually this can create a completely new, independent species.

I believe in evolution and have done a lot of my own research on the subject so most of the general information on evolution Professor Kjar discussed I already knew. The most interesting part of his lecture for me was his use of ants in almost every part of the presentation. I am fascinated by the animal kingdom and I do not really know a whole lot about ants. He was incredibly knowledgeable on the different species of ants and their unique lifestyles. The facts on ants and how species of ants are different genetically was very interesting.

The most surprising part of the lecture was the digestive system of the ancient ant species he showed in his presentation. It was really surprising to learn that the adult members of the ant species cannot actually eat anything. They have to put their pupae next to the food and when the pupae feed on the dead animal the adults suck the nutrients out of their offspring. This is amazing that such a small creature that very few people ever notice can find sustenance in such a peculiar fashion. I now think of them as the deadly vampire ants.

I am definitely a person that has their beliefs based on facts of science instead of the faith of religion. Both belief systems have their positive and negative aspects, but I personally am a man of science mainly because of my own observations in life. I live on a farm that raise domestic as well as exotic animals and I have witnessed evolution and natural selection with my own eyes over the course of several years. In class we discuss evolution versus religion and I especially like the readings on Darwin and genetics that we have been reading recently. The lecture has helped me further establish my own beliefs and at the same time has given me a better understanding of the current arguments evolution and religion have with each other. Professor Kjar clearly explained some common misconceptions about evolution, natural selection, theories, and truths that are at the root of many problems religious people have with science and evolution. Overall, his lecture was entertaining, enlightening, and relevant to the topics discussed in core class and to the ideas I personally contemplate on a daily basis.

Picture taken from:http://www.freewebs.com/pddc2008/ant.jpg

Blade Runner

Blade Runner is a futuristic movie that shows our world crippled by economic and environmental exploitation, inhabited by an amorphous collection of people from different cultures. The year is 2019 and the main story is set in Los Angeles. Humanity is fleeing the now completely polluted Earth to new colonies on other planets. However, the exploration and colonization of other planets is difficult. Scientists have supposedly created advanced human clones known as “replicants” to work as a labor force off world. These replicants are not allowed on Earth because of a previous mutiny on a colony. The plot of the movie is mainly about a cop, or Blade Runner, named Richard Deckard who is forced out of retirement to eliminate several illegal replicants on Earth.

Some important questions the movie makes the audience contemplate include: What does it mean to be human, what is the difference between real memories and artificial memories, how does our environment affect us, and what are the ethical issues related to cloning? The movie offers these questions to us without always giving an answer. The culture and environment in the movie is very complex and is expertly illustrated by the amazing views and panoramic displays of architecture in 2019. The special effects and impressive landscapes of shifting color and texture are amazingly well done, especially when you take into consideration the time the movie was made. Ridley Scott directed most of this film in the early 1980s and most of the scenery was created in an abandoned parking lot. The culture is very futuristic in design with immense skyscrapers, giant televisions, floating cars, and neon colors everywhere. The culture in the movie is of a broken down, but advanced society similar to what I would picture the society in 1984 to look like. A select few like Tyrell have everything they could ever want while most of the masses live in slums and survive in the polluted underbelly of the city. This imagery suggests what a culture based on communism might look like a few decades down the road.

The issue of cloning as well as forced labor is brought up in the movie. If cloning was allowed in the same way it was in the movie then how should the clones be altered to make the issue of ethics not important? I think that if the clones were being produced identical to the originals then they should get the same rights as the original person. The replicants in Blade Runner were physically superior in every way to humans except their lifespan was four years. If the humans wanted to use the replicants as slave labor they should not have given them feelings, emotions, memories, and intelligence. Another problem in the movie is the difficulty Blade Runners have identifying a replicant from a regular human. To lessen the moral issue the clones should not look, think, or feel like us. Any sentient creature should not be enslaved to another. This is a common conclusion that Blade Runner tries to bring the audience to by the end of the movie.

Picture taken from: http://www.allposters.com/gallery.aspstartat=/getposter.asp&APNum=6129647&CID=68803241D3724357BE83079826BE3072&PPID=1&search=2003&f=c&FindID=2003&P=1&PP=1&sortby=PD&cname=Blade+Runner&SearchID=

Dr. Kapasula's Lecture on Modern Feminism

Dr. Jesse Kabwila Kapasula's lecture was intriguing and eye-opening. I learned a lot about her native country and about third world countries in general. She discussed the lack of respect third world countries receive in the global community. I knew that the world super powers ran the show in the United Nations, but I did not know that they were constantly slighted and forgotten.

Something that surprised me was the feminism present in Beyonce’s song “Single Ladies”that she showed during her lecture. Beyonce shows her pride and strength as a woman in modern times through her song. In the song she is a girl who is dealing with her ex-boyfriend and she tells all the men in America that if they like a girl they need to marry her to capture her heart. This shows the power of women in today’s society. Women make the final decision in the relationship and this shows the strength of women and the modern importance of feminism.

The most interesting aspect of her lecture for me was her connection of feminism to third world countries. I thought feminism was only strong in more modern cultures and advanced societies. I thought it was fascinating that feminism still had a hold on third world countries, even in remote parts of Africa. This notion that feminism can be found anywhere adds to my understanding of order and chaos. Feminism is a representation of order when it is in a chaotic society. It shows a unity and order among strong women and has a powerful influence in some societies.

This can tie into our discussions of Burial at Thebes. Antigone can be viewed as an example of a feminist in ancient times. She is a strong woman that is willing to sacrifice her life to uphold her beliefs. A powerful woman with a strong will, she even stands up to a king and respected, elder relative to fight for her belief. The Burial at Thebes is an old example of feminism that was rare in Greece, but has been remembered for millennium.




Picture taken from: http://www.starpulse.com/Music/Beyonce/gallery/SGY-016822/

Professor Lemak's Music and the Burial at Thebes

Social justice is the concept of a society that gives individuals and groups fair treatment and an equitable share of the benefits of society. This includes a fair distribution of rights, assets, and benefits among all members of a society. Social justice is based on the idea of human rights and equality for everyone. Moral authority is the privilege of being respected for having good character or knowledge, especially as a source of guidance and usually as a ruler.


However, the terms justice, authority, responsibility, morality, and freedom are never absolute. There is not a perfect definition of each term that can be used universally in every situation. Many factors determine the current meaning and proper use of these terms which include: opinion of the individual and society, as well as the time period, location, tradition, and current related events. The position of authority can be a very stressful and difficult job for some people. The rulers must balance social justice with their own sense of morality when they issue and enforce laws. This can be seen in Burial at Thebes when Creon is forced to make a decision that will determine the fate of Anitgone. Antigone personifies social justice and its struggle with moral authority. She believes in equality under the will of the Greek gods. That is why she felt it was necessary to bury both of her brothers despite their different actions and loyalties. Creon is the authority figure who must decide the fate of the brothers’ bodies as well as any who interfere with his word, which is law. This not only shows the balance of social justice and moral authority, but also the difficult task of creating just laws and not unjust ones by mistake.


Creon eventually concedes that his decree was against the will of the people. If he loses the respect of the people he loses his legitimacy and authority. He relinquishes his hold over Antigone and gives in to the demands of the masses after originally sentencing her to death. He takes responsibility for his actions like Antigone had done earlier when she admitted to her unlawful but just deeds. He is too late in changing his mind and tragedy results, but the main idea here is the balance of power and freedom. For any form of government to survive long it must quickly establish a balance between power and freedom. The power is ultimately in the hands of the governed whether it is a democracy or a dictatorship. This is because the people have to give up their rights and freedom to allow another person or people to rule over them. They do this to establish order and create a strong wall of protection. People in power must be watchful of the public’s opinion because the masses simply have to take back the rights and freedoms they temporarily gave up in order to destroy the government’s foundations.


Professor Lemak discussed this balance of power in Burial of Thebes, but he also used his own life experiences to show his own personal struggle with those in power and how he came to respect true leadership. He talked about his teenage years of natural rebellion in which he used music as a way to fight his parents and authority in general. He would listen to any music his elders did not like, sometimes because they disapproved of it. He saw this as a natural part of life and if a person was a real patriot they would take steps to challenge authority. It is a part of our cultural heritage to confront authority and question its methods and actions. It is not necessary for people to use violence or go to any extreme measures, but it is important that people challenge their leaders in some way to determine for themselves if those in power are worthy of maintaining it. We do this every time we fight with authority figures, vote against a government official in power, or listen to music our parents don’t like. Professor Lemak now understands some of the difficult choices those with authority have to make, but he also understands that it is our responsibility to question the decisions they make. This is all a part of the complex balance in society of moral authority and social justice, power and freedom, and authority with leadership.




Painting of Anitgone by Frederic Leighton in 1882
Painting taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antigone

Self & Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Once again, when we discuss our image of self we are dealing primarily with the brain and its multiple layers and functions. The part of self that is controllable is the voluntary and conscious part of our brain. We control most of our daily choices and actions that create an identifiable personality of an individual. How we express emotions can be controlled. Depending on the person we can control our emotions and activities to different degrees. If you are knowledgeable of your actions and emotions, and the effects of them you can control that part of your self. People who are strong willed and organized can sort their thoughts and easily control the different parts of their self. Different parts of our brain control these different aspects of our self. We cannot completely control all the aspects of self, but those that we can we should always monitor and try to improve whenever possible.

This is a way to view order and chaos in the human brain. We try to organize and control the different parts of our personality, but sometimes it is impossible. The constant change and flow of our minds and our emotions can create chaos, but when they are all combined they create a complete self that shows us who we really are. There are too many aspects of our psyche that are beyond our control, but out of the chaotic unknown that we often view them as, a complete human being emerges. This person is tangible and their body and conscious thought creates order.

The movie, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind confronts the issue of memories, how we define ourselves, and what effect altering the mind has on a person. A philosophical debate that is central to the story’s main conflict is if it became possible to medically erase memories, should a person willingly give up a part of their past. The main character, Joel, has part of his memories removed from the past two years of his life in an attempt to forget about an ex-girlfriend. Anything that could trigger a memory of her is removed and the doctors destroy parts of his brain that relate to her in anyway. This makes the audience think about their own experiences and allows them to imagine a life without any bad memories. I would not want to live a life that is perfect but filled with memory holes. I think memories are what make us who we are and without them we lose our selfs. The movie shows us how we are affected by the outside world, but more importantly it shows us the value of our memories.

The title of the movie, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, is ingenious. There are several different parts to the meaning of the title. Eternal Sunshine relates to the never ending happiness one supposedly would have without any bad memories. However, the main character lives a dull unhappy life. He destroyed all the good experiences of his relationship with the bad so now he is forced to live in ignorance without bliss. The Spotless Mind refers to the mind as a blank slate. It shows minimal emotions and memories expressed in an empty mind. We see this mind as a beautiful, spotless canvas that is untarnished or besmirched by negative memories, but we also see it as ugly because the canvas is untouched. The artist needs to paint and draw all over the canvas to create their completed masterpiece. This is all connected to the films idea of memories and the use of technology to remove the ‘spots’ on our past experiences. Our minds are the canvas, and our memories are the images on the canvas. I personally would prefer to have a beautiful canvas with a few slips of the artist’s brush evident on its surface then the empty canvas.

Picture taken from: http://www.freenaturepictures.com/pictures/lake-sunset-7.php

‘Til I Collapse by Eminem: The Struggle of Self

‘Til I Collapse by Eminem

This song shows the struggle of self. Enimen explains the internal turmoil we all feel when we are faced with a difficult situation or an important decision. He raps about the hardships we face that we must overcome in order to achieve greatness. In the first paragraph he talks about the weakness we find in ourselves at times when we must overcome a difficult task. Those who succeed search within to find an inner strength and motivation. This song inspires me whenever I am working out and it drives me to become a better person. By listening to this song I develop a stronger body and mind. He talks about the unquenchable human spirit and desire to survive. This song shows us how to fight to the last and how to use our inner strength as fuel during hard times. This is one of my favorite songs, because it inspires me to find my inner self and through contemplation I can become a better person.

'Cause sometimes you feel tired,
feel weak, and when you feel weak, you feel like you wanna just give up.
But you gotta search within you, you gotta find that inner strength
and just pull that shit out of you and get that motivation to not give up
and not be a quitter, no matter how bad you wanna just fall flat on your face and collapse.

[B/W Intro:]
Yo left, yo left, yo left right left
Yo left, yo left, yo left right left
Yo left, yo left, yo left right left
Yo left, yo left, yo left right left

[Verse #1:]
Till I collapse I’m spilling these raps long as you feel em
Till the day that I drop you'll never say that I'm not killing them
Cause when I am not then I am stop pinning them
And I am not hip-hop and I’m just not Eminem.
Subliminal thoughts when I'm stop sending them women are caught in webs spin and hauk venom
Adrenaline shots of penicillin could not get the illing to stop.
Amoxacilin is just not real enough.
The criminal cop killing hip-hop filling minimal swap to cop millions of Pac listeners.
Your coming with me, feel it or not you’re gonna fear it like I showed you the spirit of god lives in us.
You hear it a lot, lyrics the shock is it a miracle or am I just a product of pop fizzing up.
For shizzle my whizzle this is the plot listen up you bizzles forgot slizzle does not give a fuck.

[Chorus - NateDogg]
Till the roof comes off, till the lights go out
Till my legs give out, can’t shut my mouth.
Till the smoke clears out - am I high? Perhaps
I'ma rip this shit till my bone collapse.
Till the roof comes off, till the lights go out
Till my legs give out, can’t shut my mouth.
Till the smoke clears out and my high burn out
I'ma rip this shit till my bone collapse.

[Verse #2:]
Music is like magic there’s a certain feeling you get when your real
and you spit and people are feeling your shit.
This is your moment and every single minute you spend trying to hold onto it
cause you may never get it again.
So while you’re in it try to get as much shit as you can
and when your run is over just admit when its at its end.
Cause I'm at the end of my wits with half this shit that gets in.
I got a list here's the order of my list that it's in.
It goes, Reggie, Jay-Z, Tupac and Biggie, Andre from Outcast, Jada, Kurupt, Nas and then me.
But in this industry I'm the cause of a lot of envy, so when I’m not put on this list the shit does not offend me.
That's why you see me walk around like nothing's bothering me.
Even though half you people got a fucking problem with me.
You hate it but you know respect you’ve got to give me
The press's wet dream like Bobby and Whitney. Nate hit me.

[Chorus - NateDogg]

[Verse #3:]
Soon as a verse starts I eat it at MC’s heart
what is he thinking? How not to go against me? Smart.
And its absurd how people hang on every word.
I’ll probably never get the props I feel I ever deserve
But I’ll never be served my spot is forever reserved
If I ever leave earth that would be the death of me first.
Cause in my heart of hearts I know nothing could ever be worse.
That’s why I’m clever when I put together every verse
My thoughts are sporadic, I act like I’m an addict
I rap like I’m addicted to smack like I’m Kim Mathers.
But I don’t want to go forth and back in constant battles
The fact is I would rather sit back and bomb some rappers.
So this is like a full blown attack I’m launching at them
The track is on some battling raps who want some static
Cause I don’t really think that the fact that I’m Slim matters
A plaque of platinum status is whack if I'm not the baddest.

[Chorus - NateDogg]

[Outro:]
[Eminem & Natedogg Echo:]
Until the roof
The roof comes off
Until my legs
give out from underneath me

[Eminem:]
I will not fall,
I will stand tall,
Feels like no one could beat me.

Works Cited

Mathers, Marshall. "'Til I Collapse." The Eminem Show. Shade Records. 2002

Small Talk Among Friends

In participating in this blog, I have discovered that most of my life is filled with small talk. At least 90% of the conversations I have during a normal day are with my friends and they usually are about the same stuff. This morning we all went to Family Breakfast and discussed the events from the night before. We do this every Saturday and Sunday and it’s always a lot of fun. About a dozen of my close friends and I all sit at a round table in the dining hall and talk about the past week, the night before, and what we all want to do later on. It’s almost always a pleasant and friendly atmosphere and our discussions are different in content but the same in intentions. We all try to learn about each other and get estimations on how the night went for everybody. If someone had a bad night we might pick on them for it, but then we offer advice for them to help them future. We are an unorthodox, squabbling, happy family and our small talk around the breakfast table reflects that.

When we have our group conversations everyone is entitled to express their opinion. The right to voice your own ideas and opinions are part of the social norms we unconsciously implement among ourselves. However, another social norm is that others in the group can interrupt, mock, or disregard whatever you want to say. This makes the conversations hard to follow at times, but it also makes the discussions we have more lively and we are all a lot more enthusiastic. We talk in a casual and very informal tone about anything we want because we are all comfortable with each other.

We all are from the New England area but some of us still sound different. One of my friends is from Melrose near Boston, Massachusetts so his speech has a very distinct accent. Another friend from Long Island uses words that I usually wouldn’t and talks with a slight Long Island accent. We hardly notice the differences anymore, but at first their speech seemed very peculiar to me. No matter what we discuss, what accents we use, or where we talk the conversations are always meant to be positive and most importantly they are always with friends.



Picture taken from: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_BMBePEU1dbQ/SklZlI60jII/AAAAALQ/6xObhEAQvbQ/s320/round_table_illo.gif

Our Brain and Our Sense of Self

Dr. Lovett’s lecture was very educational. One thing that I learned was the physiology of our brains. I always enjoy learning about new psychological aspects of our world and the way our brains are partitioned into different segments was really intriguing. I was surprised to learn that we do not you ten percent of our brains. That fact caught me off guard because it had always seemed like common knowledge that we don’t use all of our brains potential. Apparently this is not the case as many people would have you believe. Dr. Lovett explained how we constantly have neurons firing in our brain all our lives and we use a lot more than ten percent. The most interesting part of his lecture for me was the story of Phineas Gage. The railroad worker survived an accident in 1848 when a three foot iron rod went through the left side of his face and came out the top of his head. He survived the ordeal, but because of damage to his left frontal lope his personality shifted. He became an irritable man, lazy, and prone to fits of anger. This change in personality showed early neurologists how the front part of the brain controls personality.

This past week I have learned a lot about the brain, personality, memories, and how we define our sense of self. I used to view my ‘self’ as my entire body, everything mental and physical, and how I acted when alone or in public. I still believe all of these aspects of self are important, but now I put a lot more emphasis on the role of the brain. My brain controls everything I do and think, and if my brain is altered so is my entire sense of self. From now on I plan on always wearing a helmet whenever I play a dangerous sport because if I damage my brain, I can involuntarily change my personality, or lose some of my memories, or even lose my life. I have a newfound respect for my brain and the role it plays in my life.


Photograph of Phineas Gage and the rod that pierced his brain
Taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phineas_Gage

The Virtuous Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin is probably my favorite contributor to the Age of Enlightenment. He was a scientist, revolutionary, inventor, and philosopher. One concept he struggled to find a solution for was the discovery of self and how we control our own actions. He believed that what made up our individual personalities were the thoughts we expressed and the actions we took in life and on a daily basis. In an attempt to rid himself of all possible faults and sins he created a code of conduct that he would try to follow. His conduct would be controlled by thirteen virtues that he would try to uphold every day. Whenever he failed to live a virtuous day he would carefully record his error on a chart and try to improve his behavior for the future. Instead of taking on all his virtues at once Benjamin Franklin tried to master them one at a time to make the task easier and more realistic.
This week I tried to follow Benjamin Franklin’s model by living a week of following his virtues. I did not try too hard. Instead I acted as I normally would, but recorded my inappropriate behavior for future reflection. I discovered that I usually behave with good decorum throughout the week. I will admit that my behavior changes slightly when it’s the weekend, but this week I was pretty virtuous. I agree with Franklin in that our self is defined by our actions and how we think about things. I also think that to live a life of virtue would be difficult at first, but if you can succeed you will have a better, more enjoyable life.

Chart provided by: Brian Gordinier '13

Night

Compare the reactions of Job and Wiesel to their suffering and to the way their suffering affected their faith.

Both men had absolute trust and faith in God before their journeys began. As they witnessed ever increasing amounts of pain, violence, and suffering they both began to loose their faith. Job was able to stay steadfast in his beliefs even when his family was killed and he lost everything to plagues, invasions, and disastors. It was not until he started to suffer personally that he began to question the justice of God. He knew that he had lived a good life and followed God's orders wthout question so he couldn't understand why he should be made to suffer now. He doesn't really loose his faith in God, but he gets angry with God and demands to plead his case before Him. He argues the rightousness of God, not the existense of God.

Elie Wiesel was a very religious young boy before he went through his terrible ordeal. He was knowlegable in the sacred texts beyond what was expected of someone his age. His faith in God was unbreakable until he saw the horrors of the death camps, and the atrocities the Nazis committed during the Holocaust to the Jews and others that were persecuted. As the days pass by in the camps Wiesel slowly looses his faith and by the time his father dies he has lost all faith in his once benign God. When he asks God for deliverance and God remains silence he feels God has been murdered and their is only violence, destruction, and chaos left in the world. In his book Night the main character, Eliezer, sees a young angelic boy slowly die from a hanging and this symbolizes the turning point in Wiesel when he feels God died with the little boy.

Although Job eventually regains his trust in God and sees God's divinity, Wiesel does not. Job is rewarded with double of everything he once owned while Wiesel looses everything, but his life. The Holocaust cost Wiesel everything and he doesn't consider it a divine miracle that he survived, but instead a stroke of luck that could have easily passed him over.


Photograph of Elie Wiesel Age 15 taken from: http://xroads.virginia.edu/~CAP/HOLO/ElieBio.Htm

Reflection on Professor Denis' Lecture

I found the lecture on Wednesday to be very informative and stirring. I'll admit that I have a very short attention span so lectures or encore performances usually don't keep me captivated for very long, however this lecture was different. Professor Denis gave a very passionate lecture on the Holocaust that was better than any I had heard before, with two exceptions that were given by actual survivors of the Holocaust. I learned not only about the death of the six million Jews, but also about the five million other minorities that the Nazis persecuted and destroyed in the largest genocide this world has ever seen. One thing that surprised me was that all six of the death camps during the Holocaust were located in Poland, not Germany. I don't know the exact reason for this, but I found it strange that they would all be in a different country. It's almost as if Hitler couldn't stand the Jews living, even for a short time, in Germany so he had them all collected in a different country for extermination. This is just another example of Hitler's terrible hatred, persecution, and racism that fueled the horrors of the Holocaust.


The most interesting part of the lecture for me was the different works of art that were created during the Holocaust. It's amazing how people can still create beautiful things even during times of great pain and violence. The pictures of the Holocaust are never taken by the victims , only of the victims. The artwork the victims created may show the same chaos as the pictures, but they are worth so much more because they can also show us how the victims felt about their situation. Elie Wiesel illustrates how Eliezer feels during Night as the main character narrates his painful fight to stay alive. The art helps me better understand and visualize Eliezer's and the other eleven million people's suffering during the Holocaust.



Artwork by Ernst Eisenmayer
Artwork taken from: http://www.kingston.ac.uk/pressoffice/latestnews/2009/april/21-Long-lost-artwork-of-Holocaust-survivor-discovered/

Reflection on Professor Kather's Lecture

I found Professor Kather's lecture to be very enlightening. I often have trouble understanding a story when it is written in poetic form or some other type of uncommon format. It seemed like every time a character was speaking or trying to make a point they could generally have their ideas summed up in one sentence. Instead of Job just saying "I am innocent" he goes on and on for several pages using examples to state his innocence. I enjoyed Professor Kather's lecture and the introduction by Stephen Mitchell much more than the actual story because they went more in depth and explored the characters better. They did not ramble on about the same basic idea, but explained the meanings or backgrounds of the events and the characters. Both gave me a better understanding and appreciation for the story which I found originally to be a little confusing.

Even though the lecture was mainly about the illustrations for the story, the most interesting part of the lecture for me was about William Blake. I really enjoy history and I was fascinated about the life of William Blake and his interpretation of The Book of Job. I was surprised to learn that his work was not widely appreciated during his life and many considered him to be very eccentric. He supposedly had visions that he would then draw or write. I think William Blake is an interesting and important person in history because of his contributions to The Book of Job as well as other contributions in different areas of art and writing.


Photograph taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Behemoth.jpg

2nd Half of The Book of Job

Is Such A Conception of God Still Relevant in the Modern World?

It depends on the person and their own beliefs. Those who do not believe in God and rely more on scientific resoning will be less likely to believe that this old conception of God is still relevant. On the other hand, if the individual puts faith in God they would probably find it very easy to see the relevance. To many, the God they worship today is the same unchanging God in the legend. The relationship between Job and God is personal and unique. That is why Job's friends could not empathize with him when he was suffering. Their own beliefs, experiences, and relationships with the same God were different. Everyone today still has different perspectives of God even if you belong to the same sect of the same religion. You may vary from others in how your beliefs make you feel, how strong your beliefs are, and how you conduct yourself in accordance with your beliefs. This goes for anyone, even if they believe in a different God, gods, or no God at all. What you believe is an internal concept and it is different for everybody so it really just depends on the individual's beliefs on whether the conception of God in The Book of Job is still relevant to them.

Image taken from: www.tammyvwp.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/farside.jpg