In consideration of the book and film, The Diving Bell and The Butterfly as well as your own life, to what extent can we distinguish between knowing as an individual and knowing as a community? How much of one's knowledge depends on interaction with other knowers?
I think it can be difficult to distinguish between what we know as an individual and what we know as a community. There are some things that I feel like can be clear. An example is Knowledge by acquaintance. It is something that is known by you, and not the community. You can determine how someone is feeling by how the act, and from prior knowledge of their actions. Knowledge by description however can be a bit fuzzy to determine. You can know that something does something, which can be knowledge as a community member. But you can also know that something feels a certain way, which would be knowledge as an individual. I also believe that a large, if not most of peoples knowledge Is based off of their interactions with others. This may lead them to obtain knowledge as a individual or as a community member.
There are many strengths and limitations to knowing as an individual vs. knowing as a community. Knowing as an individual is a more personal experience that cannot necessarily be expressed to other people. It is impossible to explain to other people the feelings that you feel. You can know that you love someone, but you cannot explain to them how it makes you feel. Also you can know how something tastes, but you cannot describe it to someone with out stating another type of taste to describe it. Example “This chicken taste salty.” There is no possibly way to fully explain what salty taste like. Also knowing as an individual you are able to obtain knowledge by your own beliefs and perceptions. Knowing as an individual can be strong because your views and beliefs are not affected by the popularity of the community. Making it so you are able to be your own self. When you know as a community though, knowledge is more accepted by what the majority of the people have come to accept as reality. For example, if one person sees a purple monkey in the room, but the other 20 people in the room do not see it then as a community it is accepted as not being there. However, for that one person they themselves know that there is a purple monkey in the back of the room. Knowledge as a community can be a good thing though. It can help to establish similar believed truths, like the sky is blue. However there can be some serious problems with knowing as a community. For example, the slave trade. The majority of the people who lived in the countries who purchased slaves believed that these people were inferior. This majority of the people ‘knowing’ that Africans were inferior lead to the slave trade being accepted as an ok thing, even though it was very inhumane. I think that Bauby would agree that both are important. He would feel like it is very important to know as an individual. This is what gives him his butterfly. All of the knowledge that he knows is able to set him free when he is stuck in the hospital bed. His feelings and emotions toward certain things create such strong images that he can almost escape from the reality that he is now in. He must also feel that knowing as a community is important, especially for his condition. Since the all of the doctors have the agreeable knowledge on his condition they are able to care for him. If they all did not know as a community of doctors about locked in syndrome they may not have known what to do to help Bauby. Or they could have had many different views on how to handle it. However, knowing about it as a community lead to them to be able to help him.
I do not think there is anyway to gain knowledge by description or acquaintance without any type of interaction with others. Knowledge by Description is when you know that something is something. Abel describes it as ‘knowing that’, but you also need to be connected to what ever you know, you must have seen it, or have some type of interaction with it. For example, you can know that the sky is blue or you can know that someone loves you. I think it is impossible to gain this type of with out some type of human interaction. To be able to know that someone loves you, you need to first feel that emotion. Also I do not think that you can know the sky is blue without being taught what blue is or what the sky is. I also do not think that knowledge by Acquaintance can be gained with interaction with others. Knowledge by acquaintance is described as ‘raw feels’ by able. What this means is that you can know someone from interacting with them. You can tell what type of mood they are in when they walk into the room or by little things they do. This knowledge can certainly not be obtained without interaction between other people. If you were to never interact with another person you would not be able to ‘know’ them. Bauby would most likely agree with this view. He would feel that his interaction with others is the most important thing with his condition. For example, whenever his butterfly is traveling back to things from his past, he is using knowledge of description. He is remembering interactions he had with people. He is remembering things that he knows that exist. Also he would agree to the fact that in order to obtain knowledge by acquaintance. Even though his interaction with people has become very limited he cannot gain any type of knowledge by acquaintance with out some type of interaction with these people.
In gaining knowledge one of the most powerful ways we justify our knowledge claims is reasoning both by induction and deduction. I think this is most powerful because when people hear, see, smell, touch, or taste something they are more apt to feel stronger about what they know. For instance if you are to eat a carrot you know what it is. If you were to be blindfolded and handed a carrot and told to eat it you would know that what you are eating is a carrot. People also seem to believe what they experience and feel that they are able to justify it easier. Also when people use deduction, using logic to create reason, they are able to explain to people how they came across the knowledge they have. I think that Bauby would agree with this. Throughout his book when he is describing all of the emotions and feelings he has gone through. However I feel that for him his memory is the most powerful way to express his knowledge. He is only able to communicate through blinking his eye and his whole book is based off of his memory of his experiences and things from his past. Even his butterfly. When his mind is traveling to events from the passed it is all based off of memories that he has seen and or experienced from the passed. With out any sense of memory he would not have any way to express himself, his experiences, and way to ‘travel back in time’. His memory is the best way for him to justify his knowledge.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Pink Noise
Why do you think Pink Noise works? Do you think Sturgis should pump in Pink Noise throughout the school? Why or why not?
I think pink noise works because it gives the brain a different sound to focous on than rather than focousing on the louder, more annoying sound. Also since the sound is closer and louder it is able to block out the unwanted sound. By giving off a pleasent sound the person in the work place or wherever will most likely consentrate on the more pleasen sound then the distracting annoying one. However i do not think that Sturgis should pump in the pink noise. First of all we do not have that many distractions that are happening outside of the school, well ones that we havent come accustomed too. I also personally think that it almost makes the noise more noticeble. In the example when the play the music and the hammer thing at the same time it almost bugged me because it didnt fit in with the music at all. I also have the a feeling that other students at sturgis would feel the same, since we have so many musically inclined students.
I think pink noise works because it gives the brain a different sound to focous on than rather than focousing on the louder, more annoying sound. Also since the sound is closer and louder it is able to block out the unwanted sound. By giving off a pleasent sound the person in the work place or wherever will most likely consentrate on the more pleasen sound then the distracting annoying one. However i do not think that Sturgis should pump in the pink noise. First of all we do not have that many distractions that are happening outside of the school, well ones that we havent come accustomed too. I also personally think that it almost makes the noise more noticeble. In the example when the play the music and the hammer thing at the same time it almost bugged me because it didnt fit in with the music at all. I also have the a feeling that other students at sturgis would feel the same, since we have so many musically inclined students.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Diving bell
1. After reading Vegetable, respond to Bauby's statement: "I belonged on a vegetable stall and not the human race." Why do you think it is necessary for humans to put people into categories? Is our language so limiting in describing the world that we need a way to ourganize our thoughts?
I think it is necessary for humans to put people into categories for needs of communication. It makes it easier to describe someone if there is a premade and understood category to place someone into. Like in the book, the term 'vegetable' is a well known term and makes it alot easier to express that someone is physically alive, but in a coma, or not mentally and physically able to be there. I belive that our language is that limiting that we need to have categories to expressing people and our thoughts. However i do think that a large part of the need for organization and categories is for easiness and fast communication. People are constantly looking for a faster and easier way to do things, so why would they want to spend the time explaining things when they could just put it in a category and have someone understand?
2. Bauby claims that, "Capturing the moment, these small slices of life...I hoard all these letters like treaure." What do you hoard and why?
I hoard gifts and notes. Not like the expensive gifts, but those little signs of affection. The gifts based off an inside joke. I have a wall completely made out of random drawings, cards, signs, pictures, notes, and things like that from my friends. On it it has petals from flowers i have been given on different occasions. I hoard this because there is many happy memories sitting right there on my wall. I just have to look at one of these things and automatically the 'moment, these small slices of life' comes flooding back to me and instantly I become happy. Its a way to never have to forget some of my most precious memories with the friends I love most.
3. Read Outing and respond to Bauby's statement: "I know who he is, but who is he really?" Is he getting any closer to understanding what makes people tick? Also, why will Bauby never tire of the smell of French Fries?
I think he is kinda getting closer to understanding what make people tick. He has come to the realization that even thought he knows this man, and who he is. He doesnt know what the man really is. He doesnt know this mans past, what is going on in his head, why he does the things he does. I think that Bauby will never tire of the smell of french fries becuase its as close as he can get to eating them. Because of the condition he is in now he is unable to eat food and cannot taste them. When you smell something very to you almost a sense noslagia comes over you and you can rember the taste that that certain food has.
4. Read Twenty to One. Bauby claims that, "the memory of that event has only come back to me now, now doubly painful: regret for a vanished past and, above all, remorse for lost opportunities." Do you ever look back on something in your life as a "small near miss"? Is it ever beneficial to have regrets?
I think it is impossible for one not to have some memories that they look back on and wish that they had gone differntly. After something has happened, over a period of time (long or short it doesnt matter) you are able to have knowledge of the effect of what ever had happened. By looking back at it you arer able to have certain view, which leads to regret. I think that some regrets are deffinatly a good thing. They can lead you to act differntly in a bad situation, making what ever the situation is better than the last time you had encountered it.
5. Read Duck Hunt and explain what Bauby means by the statement: "I must have butterfly hearing."
To be 100% honest im not really sure what he ment by this statement. I think he was trying to illustrate to the reader how he can easily find butterflies to escape his reality. Mabey that he seems to notice things others dont now? I'm not really sure.
6. Read Sunday. Why do you think Bauby dreads this day?
I think Bauby dreads this day because he has no human interaction. He is left to only communitcate with himself and search through his head for interestion memories to relive. The only interaction he can get with the world is through his visitors and his thearipists. Since they do not come on sunday he is unable to communicate with them
I think it is necessary for humans to put people into categories for needs of communication. It makes it easier to describe someone if there is a premade and understood category to place someone into. Like in the book, the term 'vegetable' is a well known term and makes it alot easier to express that someone is physically alive, but in a coma, or not mentally and physically able to be there. I belive that our language is that limiting that we need to have categories to expressing people and our thoughts. However i do think that a large part of the need for organization and categories is for easiness and fast communication. People are constantly looking for a faster and easier way to do things, so why would they want to spend the time explaining things when they could just put it in a category and have someone understand?
2. Bauby claims that, "Capturing the moment, these small slices of life...I hoard all these letters like treaure." What do you hoard and why?
I hoard gifts and notes. Not like the expensive gifts, but those little signs of affection. The gifts based off an inside joke. I have a wall completely made out of random drawings, cards, signs, pictures, notes, and things like that from my friends. On it it has petals from flowers i have been given on different occasions. I hoard this because there is many happy memories sitting right there on my wall. I just have to look at one of these things and automatically the 'moment, these small slices of life' comes flooding back to me and instantly I become happy. Its a way to never have to forget some of my most precious memories with the friends I love most.
3. Read Outing and respond to Bauby's statement: "I know who he is, but who is he really?" Is he getting any closer to understanding what makes people tick? Also, why will Bauby never tire of the smell of French Fries?
I think he is kinda getting closer to understanding what make people tick. He has come to the realization that even thought he knows this man, and who he is. He doesnt know what the man really is. He doesnt know this mans past, what is going on in his head, why he does the things he does. I think that Bauby will never tire of the smell of french fries becuase its as close as he can get to eating them. Because of the condition he is in now he is unable to eat food and cannot taste them. When you smell something very to you almost a sense noslagia comes over you and you can rember the taste that that certain food has.
4. Read Twenty to One. Bauby claims that, "the memory of that event has only come back to me now, now doubly painful: regret for a vanished past and, above all, remorse for lost opportunities." Do you ever look back on something in your life as a "small near miss"? Is it ever beneficial to have regrets?
I think it is impossible for one not to have some memories that they look back on and wish that they had gone differntly. After something has happened, over a period of time (long or short it doesnt matter) you are able to have knowledge of the effect of what ever had happened. By looking back at it you arer able to have certain view, which leads to regret. I think that some regrets are deffinatly a good thing. They can lead you to act differntly in a bad situation, making what ever the situation is better than the last time you had encountered it.
5. Read Duck Hunt and explain what Bauby means by the statement: "I must have butterfly hearing."
To be 100% honest im not really sure what he ment by this statement. I think he was trying to illustrate to the reader how he can easily find butterflies to escape his reality. Mabey that he seems to notice things others dont now? I'm not really sure.
6. Read Sunday. Why do you think Bauby dreads this day?
I think Bauby dreads this day because he has no human interaction. He is left to only communitcate with himself and search through his head for interestion memories to relive. The only interaction he can get with the world is through his visitors and his thearipists. Since they do not come on sunday he is unable to communicate with them
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Diving Bell Questions
1. What is significant about the last line in Guardian Angel?
The last line in Guardian Angel is significant becuase it helps the reader to understand the fact that he is almost losing himself, and that he isnt able to be fully himself or fully human. He replies to the question "are you there, Jean-Do?" that at times he does not even know if he is there. He is so in and out with his thoughts it must be hard to judge reality. His illness leads him to lose himself.
2. What is ironic about the photograph he recieves from his father in The Photo?
Bauby's butterfly is not arround in My Lucky Day. He is unable to escape from the annoying situations aound him and does not go off into thought about another place, instead he is mentally trapped in the situation around him
5. After reading, Our Very Own Madonna and Through a Glass, Darkly, Bauby seems to have regrets about not appreciating small moments from his earlier life. Can you think of a moment from your own life that you did not truly appreciate until it was over? How can we learn to live so that we appreciate significant moments. Is this even possible?
I can remember several moments in my life that i didnt truly appreciate until it was over, and i have not met another person who has not. I htink it is impossible to learn how to appreciate some significant moments while they are happening. I feel as though it is amlost human nature to not notice things untill they are gone. We are so busy with the present and the future that we do not have the time to appricate the simple things until we are without.
The last line in Guardian Angel is significant becuase it helps the reader to understand the fact that he is almost losing himself, and that he isnt able to be fully himself or fully human. He replies to the question "are you there, Jean-Do?" that at times he does not even know if he is there. He is so in and out with his thoughts it must be hard to judge reality. His illness leads him to lose himself.
2. What is ironic about the photograph he recieves from his father in The Photo?
The photo he revives from his father is ironic becuase it is a picture of just him that was taken near the hospital he is at now.
3. Do Bauby's dreams give us any insight into his condition? Be specific.
Bauby's dreams gives us alot of insight to his condtion. First of all in the main dream that he seems to have more than once he is unable to communicate. Also in the dream he starts off as paralyzed and is unable to communicate while an opperation is preformed on him. Another similiarity is the "liquid" that he 'drinks'. He states that he has then been drugged and is unable to function. The drugs can be related to the hospital medications he is having pumped into him. It could also relate to to sleeping pill that he takes, which leaves him even more unable to function then normal.
4. Where is Bauby's butterfly in My Lucky Day?Bauby's butterfly is not arround in My Lucky Day. He is unable to escape from the annoying situations aound him and does not go off into thought about another place, instead he is mentally trapped in the situation around him
5. After reading, Our Very Own Madonna and Through a Glass, Darkly, Bauby seems to have regrets about not appreciating small moments from his earlier life. Can you think of a moment from your own life that you did not truly appreciate until it was over? How can we learn to live so that we appreciate significant moments. Is this even possible?
I can remember several moments in my life that i didnt truly appreciate until it was over, and i have not met another person who has not. I htink it is impossible to learn how to appreciate some significant moments while they are happening. I feel as though it is amlost human nature to not notice things untill they are gone. We are so busy with the present and the future that we do not have the time to appricate the simple things until we are without.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
1. Read The Ladies of Hong Kong. Think of a place you know by smell. Can you adequately describe it? Which situation is more horrific? Bauby's or Jean-Paul K. Please explain your answer.
A place I know by smell is the barn, I don’t think I could accurately explain to someone the smell of the barn except for that it smells like dirt, horse manure, and horse. Besides that any detail would be impossible to go into. I think Jean-Paul K’s situation would be more horrific, because of the atmosphere. Even though they were both put in situations where their future was unsure, I feel like Jean-Paul’s was much worse. He had people surrounding him that were trying to hurt him. While everyone around Bauby was trying to help him.
2. After reading Wax Museum, why do you think Bauby is "fond of all these torturers"?
I think Bauby is fond of all of them, because even though they tend to do things wrong they are there for him. He also sees them as people, outside of their jobs. It seems to give them a more of a human aspect to them rather than the nurses and doctors that they are.
3. Read The Mythmaker and explain why you think Bauby has admiration for Olivier. What is the connection between memory and emotion?
Bauby has an admiration for Oliver because of his ability to come up with stories on the spot.
4. Why do you think Bauby likes the song A Day in the Life? Why do humans always wait for life's crescendo? Why do you think he places this chapter towards the end of the book?
I think Bauby likes the song because it gives him a sense of nostalgia from when he was young. Humans always wait for life’s crescendo because they wanto experience the most exciting parts, and not the boring ones. I think he puts the chapter toward the end so that people can see who he is now before they see who he was before. He seems to be ashamed of some of the acts he has committed previous to his accident, and its almost like he wants to get that across before he opens up who he used to be
5. Read Season of Renewal. Why is he savoring the last week of August? Is there something we can learn from him beause of his reaction to the end of vacation?
He is savoring the last week of august because he is finally starting not feel like death is emanate, and is looking forward to a new start. We can learn from him that the end of vacation is not really an end but a start of something new.
A place I know by smell is the barn, I don’t think I could accurately explain to someone the smell of the barn except for that it smells like dirt, horse manure, and horse. Besides that any detail would be impossible to go into. I think Jean-Paul K’s situation would be more horrific, because of the atmosphere. Even though they were both put in situations where their future was unsure, I feel like Jean-Paul’s was much worse. He had people surrounding him that were trying to hurt him. While everyone around Bauby was trying to help him.
2. After reading Wax Museum, why do you think Bauby is "fond of all these torturers"?
I think Bauby is fond of all of them, because even though they tend to do things wrong they are there for him. He also sees them as people, outside of their jobs. It seems to give them a more of a human aspect to them rather than the nurses and doctors that they are.
3. Read The Mythmaker and explain why you think Bauby has admiration for Olivier. What is the connection between memory and emotion?
Bauby has an admiration for Oliver because of his ability to come up with stories on the spot.
4. Why do you think Bauby likes the song A Day in the Life? Why do humans always wait for life's crescendo? Why do you think he places this chapter towards the end of the book?
I think Bauby likes the song because it gives him a sense of nostalgia from when he was young. Humans always wait for life’s crescendo because they wanto experience the most exciting parts, and not the boring ones. I think he puts the chapter toward the end so that people can see who he is now before they see who he was before. He seems to be ashamed of some of the acts he has committed previous to his accident, and its almost like he wants to get that across before he opens up who he used to be
5. Read Season of Renewal. Why is he savoring the last week of August? Is there something we can learn from him beause of his reaction to the end of vacation?
He is savoring the last week of august because he is finally starting not feel like death is emanate, and is looking forward to a new start. We can learn from him that the end of vacation is not really an end but a start of something new.
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