Warning: Human Advancement Ahead

In his short essay, "A Reply to Professor Haldane," Lewis writes:

Out of the Silent Planet is certainly an attack, if not on scientists, yet on something which might be called ‘scientism’—a certain outlook on the world which is causally connected with the popularization of the sciences, though it is much less common among real scientists than among their readers. It is, in a word, the belief that the supreme moral end is the perpetuation of our own species, and that this is to be pursued even if, in the process of being fitted for survival, our species has to be stripped of all those things for which we value it—of pity, of happiness, and of freedom.

Were Lewis alive today, I suspect he might have a similar warning about technology, for every time we make a technological gain, it is at the expense of something - perhaps unrealized - that we already possess. That is, I may have hundreds of facebook 'friends', but the time I spend (or waste) on facebook is face-to-face time I lose with flesh-and-blood Family and Friends. (I'm not a facebook hater, by the way. I'm just making an observation about the reality of what may or may not be actual human advancements.)

Using a passage from Out of the Silent Planet as your starting point (page number, please; feel free to draw from the entire text), briefly discuss something in Lewis's world or today's world that, for all intents and purposes, appears to be a scientific or medical or technological gain or advance but which also carries with it the very real possibility of 'loss' or 'un-advancement'. Regarding the facebook example above, I might first refer to passages in the text where Ransom and Hyoi build a strong friendship only after spending significant face-to-face time together, learning each other's language, sharing experiences, and discussing such things as life, love, and death; then I would move on to a discussion of facebook and how, though it appears to enrich and expand my relational circle, it may be doing so at a very high (and possibly uncalculated) cost.

This post will require you to negotiate the text in a creative yet careful way, and to then expand your discussion beyond the text in a way that is logical, analytical, and thought-provoking.


IMPORTANT NOTES:

• Next week's quiz will be on TUESDAY and will cover chapters 14 through the Postscript. The format will be similar to Thursday's quiz.
• DO NOT print off and start reading the Harvard interlinear edition of "The Wife of Bath." I've made a change in our next text and will send an email with details. Be sure to check your Purdue inbox before our next class.

Abolition of Man

For Thursday, bring a copy of "Abolition of Man" to class. The text can be found here:
Abolition of Man
Be sure to print off a PDF version of the text.

Rather than revisiting this week's discussions, I want to look ahead to the final books of The Odyssey. Specifically, I'd like to know whether the book met your expectations and answered your questions. (You might look back at the previous post on this topic to see what you wrote at the time.) When you finally read the last line and closed the covers of this rather hefty volume, were you satisfied with the ending? Did you experience a sense of closure? Did the text deliver the "happily ever after" conclusion that many of you were hoping for? Or did it deliver something perhaps even greater than that? Finally, would you say that The Odyssey is an example of a "good and true story" as we discussed on Thursday? Take a stab at any or all of these questions, and as always, provide adequate "why" or "why not" evidence.

Abolition of Man

For those of you who enjoy knowing the background to specific texts and who enjoy philosophical discussions, you might want to read Lewis's "The Abolition of Man." It touches on many of the themes and topics that you'll find in Out of the Silent Planet, and will give you some insight into Lewis. It's a bit dense, but I encourage you to slog through it. I am not expecting or requiring anyone to do this, but am merely offering it to those who might be interested.


Abolition of Man

The Gods Must Be Crazy

Detail from Michelangelo . Sistine Chapel

     The topic of "gods" has come up in class on numerous occasions, mostly in regards to the relationship between gods and human beings throughout The Odyssey. The burning question seems to be whether or not humans do or do not have free will. Do the gods determine destiny? Do the gods merely tinker with destiny? Do the gods really even care about destiny? Or are the humans merely pawns for the gods, toys they can maneuver, move, manipulate, and play with at their own leisure? 
     This question of free will versus destiny is one that many people continue to ask today - though perhaps with different terminology and a different purpose - and the ensuing discussion often ends up arriving nowhere, caught up in a cycle that can be difficult to detangle. These discussions are probably worth having, but for the sake of this discussion space, I'd like you to reflect on these topics only as they pertain to The Odyssey. To what extent do the gods control the destiny of human beings? To what extent (if at all) do human beings control their own destiny? To what extent do gods control the destiny of other gods (begging the question of who, if anyone, is actually in charge of things)?
     Certainly Odysseus is an easy target in this discussion since his interaction with the gods is often painfully apparent throughout the text. But I'd like you to set Odysseus aside and instead focus on another human character, commenting on that person's relationship and interaction with the gods, being careful to note specific references to personal agency, divine intervention, and the like. Make special note of references that might seem to contradict one another, offering a theory about how the two can co-exist peacefully in the text. In the end, what observations and conclusions (if any) can we as readers draw about the intersection of humanity and divinity in The Odyssey?
     Remember: this post MUST include pertinent book and line references, and must be published by 9 a.m. on Tuesday, September 14.
  
      

Endings vs. Closure

On Thursday we discussed both endings and closure. Some narratives draw to an end but do not provide closure (soap operas are a perfect example of this, as are the first episodes in a television series or movie trilogy). When a narrative does provide closure, it doesn't always 'look' the way we expect it will. 
     As readers, we want answers for our questions and fulfillment for our expectations. Many of us are engaged by narratives that keep us waiting for answers and fulfillment and then provide them in surprising and unexpected ways. True, we all love a predictable story now and then, a story that provides both closure and a satisfying ending. But we also love a story that keeps us guessing--that takes us down a path with twists and turns we didn't expect--that doesn't finish things off with a neatly tied bow. We love the thrill of a narrative that takes us on a journey sans GPS, atlas, triptych, or other form of definitive navigation.
     For those who have already read The Odyssey and know the ending, what is keeping you engaged in the narrative this time around? What new questions and expectations do you have? How is this re-reading different from your first reading?
     For those who are reading The Odyssey for the first time, what kind of ending and/or closure are you expecting or hoping for? What moments have surprised you up to this point? What questions and expectations do you have?
     And for both groups, how do these concepts of questions/expectations and ending/closure, as discussed in class, enhance, illuminate, explain, deepen, modify, or add to your experience and understanding of narrative and reading?
     That's a lot to fit into 150-300 words, so focus your answer on a specific element of the prompt. As always, be sure to provide book.line references (required for credit) that explain or support your comments.
     Happy Labor Day. Enjoy the holiday.