Blog #5: The “Other” and Gattaca

In the essay “The Man on the Moon” written by George J. Anna’s, argues about historical occurrences that make the statement “human rights and human dignity depend on our human nature or weather we have been genetically engineered into ‘superior’ ideal human beings” possibly true. When Columbus believed he has found “New Land” he was also determined to stop the Native Americans who were already living on this “New Land” to convert their way of living and religion. Columbus believed in the Catholic Church and believed in Catholic Religion. He converted these Natives and it resulted in genocidal destruction.

In Gattaca people were being genetically engineered. They were trying to make people superior and better. In Gattaca normal human beings weren’t allowed to work in big institutions, only genetically engineered people were. As in the essay Columbus believed in the Catholic Church and wanted to convert all Native Americans. In the movie Gattaca people believed in the “ideal human” they wanted to change as many people as they could. In Gattaca people who weren’t genetically engineered were being downgraded and treated as if they were slaves as well for the Native Americans. In both the essay and the movie both the Native Americans and the normal human beings who were called “God Children” were deprived of their lives. These people have been living in their world, without any change whatsoever.

In the essay the “Man on the Moon” if you were superior and had the power to change society, then that’s what you were going to do, that’s what Columbus did.  In the movie Gattaca, if you had the power to develop a perfect ideal human, that that’s what you were going to do. In both the essay and movie it is proven that the more power and dignity you have in yourself the more likely chance you have to accomplish that goal.

Essay 1

 In the “Allegory of the Cave” Socrates interprets Plato’s theory. He believes “the cave” that the prisoners have been living in, is an illusion. The “cave” is a reality that only the prisoners know of. They have never left the cave, if they were to leave the cave and experience the reality Socrates lives in, they would feel scared and uncertain. The “Allegory of the Cave” is similar to the Amish people. They both live in an illusion, away from society.

The Amish are a small group of people who are strictly for culture and tradition. They exclude themselves from society and live far away, by a farmland. Amish believed in religion and culture their ancestors followed. They didn’t believe in technology or modern development. In the “Allegory of the Cave “ the prisoners were living in a reality of no modern culture or technology. They never looked beyond the cave walls. They could only see what the puppeteers would cast in the shadows. Amish grew up in the reality that there was no world beyond the Amish society. At the age of eighteen, Amish mothers allowed their children an option of leaving Amish society and exploring the city which was hidden from them all of these years. The prisoners at a certain point were also allowed to explore the world beyond the cave, just like in the Amish society, they had a choice to accept this reality or go back to their own reality.

In the Matrix you also were given a choice. One of the reality’s the man face was a perfect world with no problems. The other was a world of suffering and pain. This world was reality and the perfect world was an illusion. The man in the Matrix was given two pills; each pill would allow him to live in whichever society he chose to stay with. The truth of it was, once he took the pill, he was to never to leave that reality and live in that reality forever. The Amish society gave their children a choice of either staying in the reality they grew up in or to explore more of this new world beyond Amish lands. As in the Matrix's once the Amish decided what reality they were willing to live in, they weren’t allowed to leave it.

I was reading an article online about a young couple in Virginia. They lived in a huge house and a trailer in their backyard. This couple had two children, a little girl and a boy who they trapped in their basement an  locked them in a cage. These children have been living in this cage for over years. Their parents barely giving them any food for survival. They were not washed or educated. They lived in a cage deep in their parent’s cellar. Once these children were found by police officials, they were delusional. I read that when the officer ran in the basement to open the door the little boy could not walk. He was confused to what he was to do and collapsed in the officers hands. Later on that day when the children were being treated, the doctors said they were so closed off to society that they developed a language between themselves to communicate. They didn’t choose to live this reality; they were forced to believe that the basement was their realty. The prisoners from the “Allegory of the Cave” believed there was no world beyond the cave. Once they were allowed to enter a new reality they were fearful and scared just liked these children.

In the play “Oedipus”, the young boy tried to escapse reality. Oedipus was given away at birth to a messenger so he could die. His parents were told that Oedipus would kill his father and marry his mom. Once his parents found this out they got rid of Oedipus. Oedipus didn’t die; the messenger gave him away instead. Oedipus parents chose to live in a world without their son, but reality is they were living in a world where fate wasn’t to be questioned. Oedipus lived and killed his father; he married his mom not knowing that she was his mother. Oedipus chose his reality once he was told his fate and he chose to become kind and marry the queen. He didn’t choose a different path. He chose to be king.

Not everyone can choose the reality they grew up in. In the “Allegory of the Cave” , The Amish People, the article of the two children and the Matrix’s, each of them there were two reality’s, an each reality was either bad or good. Once you chose a reality, you’re stuck to live in it.

Blog 4: Ignorance, Bliss, and Knowledge in Oedipus the King and The Matrix.

In both Oedipus the King and The Matrix each character experiences a moment of unawareness and deception. Each character learns the truth of their reality and can no longer be ignorant to it. They take moral action and learn to live with the agonizing truth they have discovered.

In Oedipus the King, Oedipus is given away to a messenger to so that he can be killed. Oedipus's parents were told by a prophet that their new born son was to kill his father and marry his mother. The King, Oedipus’s father sent his child to be killed. The messenger then left Oedipus to die. Oedipus was then rescued by a Sheppard and lived. Many years later he met a man on the road and ended up killing him. This man was his father, Oedipus didn’t know that. He later married Jocasta who was his mother and lived forever happy. Oedipus was unaware that he had just killed his father and married his mother. He was happy. Later on Oedipus was told by a prophet that he was really married to his mother. A important line from Oedipus the King that shares Oedipus’s emotions after figuring out the truth are "As I listen, my queen, my thoughts went reaching out and touched on memories that make me shudder..."Oedipus was so overwhelmed with the truth he blinded himself. All this time he was unaware that he was living a horrific and painful reality.

 In the Matrix Neo believes the world he’s living in is reality. He later then is exposed to the truth; he realizes that the matrix is a huge computer program. Neo wants to discover what reality is, what the real world is. When he sees reality, he sees it’s a world full of pain and deceit. The difference between Neo and Oedipus is Neo chooses to stay in the world of pain, though he was blinded to this reality for so long, he chooses to stay and live in it. Oedipus had no choice but to live in this reality.

Blog #3: The Matrix: Utopia, Dystopia, and Realities

In the “Allegory of the Cave”, Socrates explains that if the prisoner was to leave the cave and endure the world outside the cave, then they would learn to accept the outside world though feeling   deceptive and uncertain about it. If the prisoner was to give up the illusion they were living in and embrace truth beyond the cave, they would learn to adjust and realize the world beyond the cave is a more improved and better world then the world they were living in. Plato’s theory was questionable but overall had a valid point.  The Amish were a group of people who didn’t believe in any other world except theirs. They were simple living and dressed plainly.  They were strictly against modern culture and technology.  The Amish people were not allowed to use electricity or allowed to use or own automobiles.  The Amish were closed off from society; they were raised in a strict environment away from technology and advance development of machinery. There kids were raised to believe that this was their world, at least for 18 years. After the kid had become 18 years of age, they were allowed to leave the Amish society and enter the world of technology. As Socrates described when a prisoner leaves the cave he feels scared and deceived, as do the Amish people. The Amish people never experienced a reality where cars were moving, or people were able to communicate through a cellular device. They entered a completely new world. This new world was better; it was an easier way of life. This new world had technology and machinery to help out with everything. The Amish people lived in a reality where everything was hand done.  This world was better, just as this new world that the prisoner entered.

I grew up in Brooklyn but growing up; I would always travel back to my home county Poland. My grandparents lived in an area of open space. They didn’t believe in technology themselves. Instead of using a heater they would burn firewood every morning for hot water and heat.  My grandparents owned a bunch of chickens, so instead of going to the supermarket for eggs, every morning they would just go into their backyard and pick up a few eggs from there hens. Every summer I would help them out. I would dig up potatoes and plant vegetables.  Then one summer I bought my grandmother a toaster. She looked at me in disbelief and asked me why I brought that for her. I told her it would be much easier for her to toast things with a toaster. She used it once and never tried it again. She told me even though this toaster was amazing and a huge help to her, she would rather do things her own way. She said the world I lived in was different and she wasn't familar with all the advances in technology and cooking equipment I lived around. She then told me,  she loved the world she grew up in and was just to scared to adapt into the world I was living in. Years later she accepted my toaster gift and started using it, she soon began using more cooking items and adjusted to this new better world. She found life to be way more easier.