The Menagerie Part 1

Do you think Mr. Spock is being completely rational when he decided to commandeer the Enterprise? Because Mr. Spock is part Vulcan, people assume that he is incapable of deceit. Do you think that the act of assuming is detrimental to society? Could stereotyping be beneficial to society, if so how? The question that I was most intrigued by today was the question as to whether certain knowledge should be banned from the common man. I feel like that is my most important question for you guys to answer. Should this limitation exist? If so, why?

The Monstrous Morals

In class today we discussed whether or not it was morally wrong for Dr. Frankenstien to create life. I wanted to continue this discussion since we had to end it abruptly in class. I believe that it is morally wrong to create life, because in a since we are playing God, which is a power no man should have. Also, I don't think it is morally acceptable because Dr. Frankenstien was stealing the body parts, which is perverse in its own right. Overall, I just believe it is morally unacceptable for a human being to have the power of God, i.e. creating life.

Favorite novel/short story/article?

So, for our extra credit post, let's talk about our favorite readings. Personally, I like The Lingua Franca, mainly because fantasy/science fiction is one of my favorite genres. Calcutta Chromosome is fine, but it had more a feel of a historical novel to me as the author went through the history of malaria. Switching the narratives was cool though, especially as you got near the end and everything was starting to tie together. After having read As I Lay Dying (which probably has the shortest chapter, btw), switching narratives isn't really that bad. To summarize, Calcutta Chromosome has its positives, but as a whole, I enjoyed Lingua Franca more.

Rhode Island is neither a road, nor an island... Discuss....

How about we talk about Foucault?! Yaaayyy!
So! I'm a Francophone, I love Foucault, I read lots about him. I found it interesting that the English translation was The Order of Things, but en francais, it's "the words and things." I think that the latter is more appropriate. Do you??
And I wanna continue the question that Dr. Tiff asked in class... do you think that the Age of Resemblences or the Classical Age is a more accurate way of thinking and operating? I gave my answer in class. I think maybe it's both happening simultaneously, the natural world being an undertone and the way humans develop just adds layers of order, but it doesn't cancel out the natural world.

The Calcutta Chromosome

I wanted to talk a little bit about the book. I know we were only supposed to read up til chapter 39 for today, but I really want to get y'all's input on the ending. So it is implied that Urmila, Somali, and Murugan are able to make it to the station and go with Mangala. I thought it was pretty interesting that Urmila was the one chosen to "host" Mangala, but I was wondering what you guys thought Murugan meant when he began begging Urmila to take her with him wherever she went? And also, why was Murugan so unkempt when he appears in Antar's room? What had happened between 1995 and Antar's time? What I'm basically trying to say is, how did you guys interpret the ending?

How much is too much?

I know I am posting this a little earlier than Monday night, but I am in a very productive mood. For the blog post I would like it if everyone would ponder and expound on the following quote: "Do you think that everything that can be known should be known?" (Ghosh 59). How much information is too much? What could the ramifications be of too much information?

Hey, guys.
I thought it would be a good idea to talk a little more the term "lingua franca" and how it was effecting Mist and her culture. Lingua franca originally represented the mixed language of Italian, Turkish, French, Greek, Arabic and Spanish. Now days it just means a common-ground mixture of two languages. In McDonnell's short story, the lingua franca is the introduction of the the Earther's English and their "cutting". Mist was emotionally disturbed my the changes that were being made in her society. She observes the children begin to adapt to the Earther's ways as demonstrated during the Mother-Infant Festival and the whispering. Do you guys think it is ironic that it was Mist who was going against the caste system at the beginning but becomes a strong opposer of mixing cultures? Do you think the Earther's should leave their culture alone or teach them Earth's ways? Can anyone relate the work with any other instance in history?

Why?

In class today we discussed how the focus of science shifted a great deal in the 18th century. The topic I wish to address is what exactly caused the shift. Was it that technological advances finally allowed for more standardization in scientific areas, or was it simply a trend that stuck? I think it was somewhat a mix of the two. Since some technological advances allowed for shortened travel times, more and more scientists saw just how confusing it can be when they use none of the same units of measure. What do you guys think?

First Post!

Hey, so I totally didn't realize I was alphabetically the first until like, five seconds ago, so sorry it took so long! My last name starts with M... didn't think it'd be me

Okay, so I know that we touched on this in class but I wanna talk about the dopplegaenger. (I can't get the diacritic umlaut to work, so the spelling changes). I stumbled upon a book a few years ago by Jorge Luis Borges called The Book of Imaginary Beings, wherein he described the history, literary importance, and general meaning of the dopplegaenger. Anyway, so the description is only about 400 words or so, but he says a lot.
Concepts of the dopplegaenger have also been said to be a link to parallel universes and time travel etc, etc. So as related to The Lost World, Professor Challenger and the king of the ape-men are each other's dopplegaenger, though it's rather ambiguous as to who is the "evil" twin and bringer of death or whatever.
As primitive as the ape-men are portrayed in comparison to the Brits, I think that the notion of a dopplegaenger is a product of having been "taken back in time" by the expedition to witness the prehistoric scenes. I don't know what else to say other than the appearance of a dopplegaenger has linked the modern world with the prehistoric one, but it's out of the public eye. It's in a remote forest that, at the time was largely unexplored...

I get wordy. Sorry guys...
Your turn.


Alli