Eassy: 1

Throughout Mythology similar titles such as Oracle, Neo, and Morpheus have been used to depicted different beings of wisdom and knowledge. In the movie “The Matrix” the adaptation and use of these names was evident. From the use of the Oracle’s interpretation and foreshadowing future events down to the words of Morpheus indicating a false world, these elements were all taken from Mythology. The ideas and concepts of these Mythological titles used within this storyline was as if almost to illustrate that “The Matrix” was a myth itself.
From the moment that we hear the character Neo is being taken to the Oracle we can begin to assume that the Oracle is one of higher power and wisdom. Even with no prior knowledge of Greek mythology. Since the Oracle had been around from the beginning as Morpheus stated to Neo it could lead us to the understanding that she had wisdom and knowledge of the world around her, in this case the world being “The Matrix” itself. So with now the idea that this Oracle must contain this knowledge we can begin to see how Greek Mythology is implemented into the storyline. There is a conversation in which the Oracle and Neo have where the Oracle tells Neo about his upcoming path and what he may or may not face. Essentially she gives the idea that no matter what everything has a purpose and was designed to do it that way, a sort of fate and or destiny.
The One, The Messiah, The Savior in this case though his name was Neo. The name Neo is in almost all mythology and maybe represented as a Messiah or a Savior of some type. In “The Matrix” Neo was a symbol of hope and a representation for salvation. Several adaptations can be found today within different religions all of which reflect back to a Messiah or Savior. As with most mythologies there were those who tried to stop or discredit these Messiah’s. In the case of this film it was the agents who wanted to stop “The One”. Neo was a threat to their very existence and source of life. Since the return of “The One” had been prophesized an uncertainty had arisen for the agents of the matrix. If Neo was indeed the one the salvation of mankind would be inevitable. Similar to “The Allegory of the cave” Neo would be the one who has escaped his shackles and turned to the light. The light would be the reality and truth of the world around him. With his new found knowledge and understand he could go back and awaken the prisoner from their misconception of the world around them.
Is this a dream? If it was indeed a dream then Morpheus would not be far behind. In Greek Mythology Morpheus is the god of dreams. In this film Morpheus character by far was the best adaptation of a dream god. In the film when Morpheus first meets Neo he presents the question “What is real?” Later on he refers to a blue and red pill representing option. The option would be to continue remaining in the dream/illusion or awaken to face the truth and reality. His character was determined to break Neo out of “The Matrix” so to awaken him from the illusion and bring him to the truth.
When taking a closer look at the film “The Matrix” and really going in depth with the characters you can begin to see why it is they used such names for these characters. Clearly Mythology played an important role in the inspiration of both the characters and storyline. Sine these characters have names which are shared with many religions and stories of mythology it made it simple for a general understanding. The Oracle, Neo, Morpheus all titled differently in mythologies and religions and in the end all are the same.

Blog 6: The idea of the prison house of language

Language the most powerful tool we utilize each day. Consider how many people you pass by each day and just say hello to. Now imagine that the passerby you’ve said hello to was having a bad day, and that your acknowledgement was enough to place a smile on their face. So what was the controlling variable that changed their mood was it your “hello” or was it the word “hello” itself. This is where the concept of “Prison-house of Language” comes in; language alone creates and expresses meaning. So if you thought that your “hello” was what did the trick, in reality it was the “hello” itself which was interpreted by the passerby as a good remark. Similar to a light switch being turned on, you can walk into a dark room, turn on the switch and instantly the room is bright and lit up, but to get this light into this dark room you’d need electricity, which is already there waiting all it needs is to be turned on. Language ultimately controls our perception in this way; the word hello is what caused the reaction of the passerby to have a smile on their face; the reason for it is the value the word itself has created for the individual. It is as though we live our lives narrated by words, we can hear the word “Sadness” and automatically are taking to a moment in our lives which may reflect a point of sadness, or hear a story of triumph and begin to feel heroic and or victorious. Language can dictate the way we feel, think, respond, and behave. Now to further analyze the concept, it could be assumed that we place such an importance on words within our languages and that certain words trigger distinct responses depending on the level of emotion we may have that corresponds to an underlined meaning. Similar to a child, who calls out to a parent, without a trigger, how would the parent know the child is in need of them?
Now, we should not be defining language as just words alone. Body Language is another form of communication. An individual’s physical action can tell us a lot about them. From a simple crossing of the arms, we can determine that the individual may not want to be approached. Opening of the arms would have the reversed meaning. A hand shake can determine the level of an individual’s comfort zone. A tightly given hand shake can show’s presence and confidence, whereas a loose one or a so called “dead fish” can label that individual as inferior. This form of communication does in fact act as a trigger, similar to words within a language. Breaking down “Prison-house of Language” Prison is a place of confinement with no way of escape, House of language is language as in a whole, so essentially it means to be confined within the perception of language. We all view and have different meanings for words and body language, the level of importance we give to them is dictated with the action or wording used. So do we narrate these languages or do the Languages narrate us? Ultimately it’d be like the question “What came first the chicken or the egg?”

Blog 5: The Allegory of the cave

The Allegory of the cave a metaphorical philosophy dealing with ones own perception of what is real. In this Socrates is sharing his philosophy using a form of symbolism to help create a better vision in the mind of Glaucon. Socrates tells of the cave and the prisoners shackled and chained at the bottom with only shadowy images of objects behind them cast on the wall, which could be interpreted as being closed off from the world around them. What you can’t see does not exist. As the dialogue perpetuates Socrates further begins to enlighten Glaucon and presents more food for thought. What if one of the prisoners gets away and turns to the light, could they accept the new reality in front off them? Also for that one that escapes could he then be able to return to lie that he once live and by doing so would the prisoners back at the bottom of the cave accept this reality he would speak of or would they cast him away and tell him it was just all a lie?

Blog 4:

It was the 1930’s and at the time radio was one of many forms of entertainment. People would look to this form of entertainment to provide news, music, even stories which were read out loud over the air waves. One of the most known stories was that of H. G. Wells – War of The Worlds. A story of science fiction dealing with an alien invasion destine upon earth. At the time this was merely just a story, no truth to it what so ever. However in the 1930’s an event took place which took this work of science fiction and turned it into a work of true non-fiction. On October 30, 1938 this fiction based story was told across the radio airwaves. Normally anyone would think this was just another story and nothing more to it, but there was a serious problem within this broadcast in particular. At the time Orson Welles was the narrator for the Colombia Broadcasting station. The dramatic story was broken down into two sixty minute segments, with news bulletins in between. An alien invasion was upon earth, this was the illusion they wanted to present to its listener’s. Now for the listener’s whom were tuned in from the very beginning they had already known that this was only just another work of fiction and that no truth should be placed on it, but what about the ones that tuned into the broadcast late? Well here is where it became interesting, the broadcast was in progress and for those people whom tuned in late this wasn’t just another work of fiction to them this was the news. It was real aliens were on earth and the battle for mankind was unfolding in their minds. This alien invasion began to cause a bit of wide spread panic, as Orson continue to tell the story people began to worry even more than before. A panic ensued into hysteria the new bulletins assured the people that this was indeed their reality. People believed it so much that there were stories about people taking their own lives, others going insane and some having heart attacks from all the hysteria. As the broadcast continued so began the phone calls, News broadcasting stations, police and government agency all received calls from listeners that felt this was indeed going on, they asked for support, how they should began to evacuate where was it safe to go. The pandemonium escalated, the illusion was so real to the listeners that they went to extreme lengths to protect themselves. Day’s after the events people were told that it wasn’t in fact a true alien invasion but that it was just a fictionally story. The mood amongst them changed significantly, it went from fear and wide spread panic to anger and wide spread outrage. To them a media source which they came to trust and allow in their homes on a more intimate level, betrayed and lied to them. This just goes to show that people need to treat the media like a grain of sand. Don’t believe all the media tells you cause in the end what you think may be real might in fact just be another work of fiction.

Source of information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_War_of_the_Worlds_%28radio_drama%29

Blog 2

I found “The Allegory of the Cave” to be a well thought out descriptive dialogue. As the dialogue progressed you were told of prisoners being shackled in chains facing a wall with nothing more than shadowy images casted down from a bright fire behind them. After reading the dialogue you begin to see that there laid a greater purpose for this dialogue to be written in such a manner. There was an underlined message that one’s face valued reality and the true reality around them was two different things. Socrates said “To them, I said, the truth would be literally nothing but the shadows of the images” this piece of dialogue illustrates that people will only hold value to that of which they see with their own eyes. The images on the walls within the cave were the reality of those prisoners. There was nothing else to change this reality for them or show them otherwise. These people had been down in this dark cave for so long hidden away from the reality that was always around them that even if they were to be shown a different one they’d ignore it and hold on tight to their own. Socrates added “Men would say of him that up he went and down he came without his eyes” once freed and in the light away from the darkness the reality of the one who escaped changed. He no longer shared the same reality of those still back in the dark cave. However this also came with a cost “Let them only catch the offender, and they would put him to death” this was to show that anyone with a different idea or reality would be put to death if they interrupted or tried to change the reality of everyone in that cave. The prisoners in this cave did not even wish to ever think about ascending after that. They just would rather continue living life in darkness than turning away towards the light.

Blog 3

Monsters
Ghosts
Alien Invasions
Santa Claus
The Devil
Generosity and compassion in people

As a child growing up with over creative and imaginative parents, I developed a few beliefs in the stories they told me. From my mother coming up with stories about monsters that would come to get my brother and I in the middle of the night, to stories my father would tell me about ghosts and haunted houses. For a long period of my childhood I had to sleep with my lights on. As time went on so did the stories, now I heard about alien invasions, religious tales of the rapture and how I’d wake up and find myself all alone one day, The devil. From what I’ve already stated you can tell I had an interesting childhood. It wasn’t till I about thirteen years of age that I began to question these tales of ghosts and monsters coming to get me. I recall one day I was acting up at home with my brother and my mother came into the room and told us if you don’t stop right now she was going to call the monsters to come get us. At this point never having seen a monster first hand I dared to say “Go ahead and call them I am waiting” oh I remember the look on my mothers face. The look itself let me know that I called her bluff and she was not expecting it at all. She tried to restate it again “I’m warning you” was what I heard, but at this point it was far too late for me to turn back. I stood strong with my words and didn’t back down I replied again “Call them I am waiting.” She left it alone and left the room laughing a bit. A few weeks later she pulled me a side and asked me how did I find out it was all made up by her, I told her it was do to the fact that out of all the years I heard these stories from her not once did I ever see a so called monster. So my mother had monsters, now my father use to talk to me about ghosts, spirits, and haunted houses, so for a time if at night I heard a sound I was beyond freaked out. Worse was when my grandmother or mother were in on a joke and would wait till I was in my room and the house was totally quiet. They would start making all type of sounds in the kitchen and then a few minutes later one of them would crawl up to the side of my bed and yell, “BOO”. If these things didn’t send me a shrink I don’t know what would. The time had come and I was placed into religion classes. Oh and guess what now I had something new to fear “The Devil”. I was taught that the devil is around us and tempts us to do wrong everyday and if I were bad I’d be going to “Hell”. So for a time I was on my best behavior. Something happened though as time went on I began to come up with my own ideas and I felt like well if he is around us where is he cause I’ve never seen him once. I asked questions to as many people as I could about this “Devil” character. No one gave me any real feed back so I just brushed this character off like others in the past such as Santa Claus, the Easter bunny and so on. Now since I was in my teens I had beliefs that everyone in the world had generosity compassion and understand. I believed that everyone had a good heart. Now my beliefs were shattered as soon as I stepped foot into New York City on my own. What I knew and believed at that point was so wrong. I found people to be so rude and lack compassion and understanding for one another.

Diagnostic (Blog 1)

        The battle of the self’s. My public self is more reserved and inquisitive. I don’t feel the need to have anyone around me or wish for anyone’s attention while I am showcasing my public self. I tend to hide certain key things such as my comical side, and also the fact that I enjoy classical music. To me these are personal and private. They are aspects I normally rather not share with anyone. In my private self you can find me to be the exact opposite once I am comfortable with those around me I shed the protective surface or layer that is my public self and become this very lively and creative person.  I can only truly be myself when I am in the company of friends and family.

        Taking a closer look at the two I’ll start with my public. My Public self is a protective layer for me as I stated before. However it does not just serve one purpose. I tend to use my public self to relate and blend with the world around me. Similar to a chameleon, with my public self I have a way to camouflage myself so I can almost match up to any group of people I encounter in my daily life. This does not mean I am not being my real self. It just means I am making an attempt to get to know who is around me before letting them get to know more about me.

        My Private self is much more lively and awake. I hold nothing back once I am comfortable with those around me. In my private self I love to joke around all the time and be spontaneous. I become a very loud and crave tons of attention. No longer am I reserved and held back. I say what I want, how I want and to who I want provided they are within my group of close friends and family. Generally you can find me creating music and listening to classical music. You wouldn’t see me doing this with my public self. These two things are very important to me and I avoid showing them to just anyone. I guess it is to avoid criticism in a way.

        I won’t lie it has been hard to juggle both persona’s. Some people I’ve encountered in my life could see right through the image or public self I presented them with. At other time no one would be the wiser. After a few years and meeting more and more people. I have sort of learned to give a bit more of my private self to my public image. For instant you never would’ve caught me writing these very same thoughts publically as I am doing now. You never would have found me on a social networking site. A few years ago you’d never even notice if I were to be walking or sitting right behind you. As time progressed I began to let my private self and thoughts become a more and more public. Do I still take caution with my words and how I say them and to whom? Yes, I even still keep something’s very private, it just leaves more to the mystery of getting to know me.

draft for blog 1

Just getting started on this whole blog thing. I always told myself that I'd never ever sign up for any type of social networking website. Well that is about to change and I am about to share any views, ideas or personal theories. So stay tuned for future updates.