Blog 8: Thematic Connections

Thematic Connections (Allegory of The Cave, Oedipus the King, The Man On the Moon, Free Will and Determinism in Minority Report [texts] The Matrix, Gattaca and Minority Report [movies])

• Ideologies/Illusions (Lies)
  

• Reality (Ugly Truth)
  

• Ignorance

• Determination
  

• Discrimination
  

• Free Will
  

• Security

• Determinism
  

The theme I found most interesting while brain storming that repeatedly popped in all of the texts and movies we’ve reviewed was reality …the knowing of the ugly truth. The knowing of the ugly truth has become a self-inflicted wound within each text or movie we’ve done throughout the semester. In Oedipus the King, Oedipus went on the journey to find out whom his parents were better yet who he was, after finding out the ugly truth and seeing his was blind by ignorance and illusions, Oedipus couldn’t bear to be comfortable of who he actually was.. In reference to the theme of “the knowing of the ugly truth” In the movie the Matrix, the main character Neo has been put in the position of eagerness to find out if the Matrix is the better reality. Once he goes through a series of events, he realizes that he rather live in the Matrix than the Dystopia of the “real world” Connection to the Matrix is the text Allegory of the Cave in which slaves were trapped inside of a cave, only knowing of what was reflected on the walls of the cave. To prove that there is more than what the eye sees, one of the slaves were released from the cave and enlightened by the reality of the world outside the cave. There’s more to life than the cave. In the movie Gattaca and the text the Man on the Moon, Vincent the main character in Gattaca was the man kind baby in which he wasn’t genetic engineered without imperfections. With these imperfections was the knowing truth of less possibilities and opportunities for him to make it out in the real world. His parents always pushed forth in which Vincent was less than perfect, Vincent was weak and couldn’t accomplish. At a point in Vincent’s life, he believed just that. In the movie Minority Report and the text Free Will and Determinism in Minority Report, Minority Report is based upon a world in 2054 – Washington, DC in which the world is protected by a pre-crime system. With this system, the chief of police – John Anderton has come across the situation in which he has committed a crime of murderer in the future. John Anderton knowing he has this future ahead of him, tries to do everything he can to escape his future yet is only getting near. John Anderton also knows he has free will – meaning he has a choice to either go about proving the truth or going against it.The knowing of the ugly truth has evolved in to which each main character has been put in a particular situation where they have to deal with the truth and what they do with the knowledge of the truth they've gained.

Blog 7: Reflection On Blogging

Sitting in class reading my Eng101 syllabus, I didn't think we would be using blogs to express our thoughts on topics in class, readings nor movies. Writting blogs is an informal way of writing and being in a writing composition class I thought it'd be the total opposite, formal writing. Formal writing, with structure of paragraphs, the use of language and minimum and maximum of words. There isn't a limitation of blogs, and it's pretty fun to just write yet still have some sort of feedback on your thoughts.

Being that blogs are broadcast for everyone to see it gives you an advantage of having some sort of feedback written on your blogs but also, you have the upper hand of viewing other blogs and comparing your insite of your blog to others. I've always felt that I've been a strong writer but compared to other people in my class, I'm an amauter (haha) but, I tend to see what helpful ideas I can take and make my own, and expand from. When I receive the feedback letting me know my blog is well rounded and solided and it's very good, it gives me motivation to become even stronger and to stand outside the box - no one wants to be an average joe.
I enjoy writing these blogs. It's an easy grade with grounded rules on staying on topic yet free expression. If I could do these for each and every one of my classes for future semesters, I'm sure my grades would be top notch!

Blog 6: Free Will and Determinism

Throughout history and even today's society, there has been conflict and hard thinking on Free Will and Determinism. Do we have free will? Can we have free will with or without determinism? There are different elements that tie into the two of free will and determinism. Free will is to have choice options, no external pressure but yet internal motivation on any given situation. While determinism is the belief that there are things in life that have only one and definite outcome such as gravity, and death. In Oedipus the King and Minority Report, the main characters have come across the difficult path of free will and determinism.

In Minority Report, the citizens are living in a world of pre-crime. Pre-crime is a system in which precogs can tell the future of a murder so therefore it is within the force of the police to stop that crime of murder from happening and put the perpetrators in jail. In this mist of the pre-crime system, in order to be safe how much privacy do you have to give up in order preventing these predetermined futures from happening? Being that in the world of Miniority Report is so pre-prevented there is free will but to a certain extent in which hard determinism is a threat to free will.

"Having free will is thought to require two things: alternate possibilities and self-control.” (Heumer, 104). In Minority Report, John Anderton the chief of police finds himself in the situation of which his future is being predetermined that he will be the murderer of a man named Leo Crow. Anderton never heard nor see a man named Leo Crow. As he finds out that he will commit the crime of murder, he tries to escape his future but at the same is only getting closer than he expected. Anderton is now face-to-face with Leo Crow holding a gun. According to the pre-crime system and the precogs there’s determinism, only one future is possible – and that’s Anderton being the murderer of Leo Crow. “One thing that is often said is that when we make choices, at least some of the time, we are directly, introspectively aware of our freedom.” (Huemer, 108). John Anderton has two choices – to kill Leo Crow, or to not kill Leo Crow. Being that Anderton has a bit of free will, he has deliberated to think of alternate possibilities and have self-control. And with free will, he has made the decision not to kill Leo Crow, which proves the minority report of pre-crime.

As so in Minority Report, in the play Oedipus the King; Oedipus faces the choice between free will and determinism. In Oedipus case, he faced a choice of hard determinism in which only one future is possible. Oedipus the king of Thebes, went to the prophecy Teiresias. Teiresias told Oedius that he will kill his father and marry his mother. With this in his mind, he has yet to realize that he has already committed the crime of his father, and the incest with his mother. He tried to escape his future such as Anderton did, but he has already committed something that has already happened. He has his vision but didn’t understand. For Oedipus there was no free will involve, there was only determinism in which he only had only one and definite outcome.