The Box: the World as We Know it Today

They chanted His name.

We chant his name.

They strived to be like God.

We strive to be God.

I started reading this book called Homo Deus: the history of tomorrow by Yuval Noah Harari. It takes a twist on Homo Sapiens, and instead, evolves humans into diety. Outrageous, right? Except that's what humankind as a whole is doing, not just Harari. As humans, we strive to know more every day. We pluck an apple off of the Tree of Knowledge because we remain unsatiated by what we have. It's not necessarily greed because we aim to improve and prevent hardship. Although we don't aim to be God, we step toward God with every point of growth we experience.

A prime example of this is in technology. My mom told me that she used to wonder if universal video calling would be possible. Well, just yesterday, I spoke to my friend from across the world, connecting in a matter of seconds. Today, I wonder if roads full of self-driving cars are possible. Inconceivable, I think, but who knows what tomorrow will hold?

Innovation is occurring at such rapid paces that we can't always keep up. And as humans, we don't like change. We're comfortable with what we know and have, even if it isn't the best. But as we look back in history, everything good came from change and novelty. Although this may have been meant in the context of poetry, even "if [things] don't seem normal, don't try to look for normal." So as we encounter both poetry and innovation in the real world, take a step outside of the box. Don't just look.

Comments

Pick Your Poison

Would you rather find out that your significant other is cheating on you or never find out? Though very far away and presumably irrelevant to your and my current circumstances, this question raises an issue that's not so far from what we know: Is ignorance really bliss? Sure, I typically respond to the opening question by selecting the latter choice of oblivion as I imagine the pain and hassle it entails, but after I contemplate and fight my instinct, I choose the wiser option. The more daunting one. I choose to pop the bubble of ignorance and learn the truth. Let's break it down. Your significant other is cheating on you. This action may be a result of a few reasons, the major being dissatisfaction in the relationship and/or sole disloyalty and a lack of integrity. A cheater is prone to cheating more than once, and if one continues it may just be a sign of bad character. Do you really want to be with someone who isn't committed to you? Someone who doesn't find satisfa...

Welcome Back

Every meeting, email, or letter begins with a greeting. "Good morning," "hello," or "dear *recipient.*" Only once an opening has been made can the intent of communication be addressed. However, though unnecessary in content, such polite phrases serve to transition and maintain friendly relations beyond just solemn work. In Korean, the staple greeting comparable to "hi" or "hello," literally means, how are you? However, no one interprets it that way or responds to the question. Despite not staying true to its meaning, it is a necessary means of easing into the meat of a conversation. Very isolated from the other employees, I often found myself asking for favors or questions at work without saying "hi" or "how are you" first. I noticed I was disrupting their work and disregarding their existence as a person and instead only seeing them as a source of inquiry. By bypassing any greeting, any conversation becomes too a...

The Fiction of Eye Contact

This picture makes me so uncomfortable. While it's eye-opening to find reason behind the normalities of point of view in film, the eye-level shot appears far from normal in my eyes. Is it the purple suit? The hands crossed? Or the specific positioning of the viewer on a table that makes me so uneasy? It's probably a combination of my suspicions, but I've decided that to its core, it's the eye contact that creates my discomfort. Most of these types of shots never reach the extent of eye contact. Instead, the similarity in levels creates a feeling of similarity shared by the character and viewer. There is no power disparity, no difference in viewpoint. Look at Forrest Gump and this eye-level shot (note that he's not looking at you). But once eye contact comes into play, the connection is too strong. Of course, any good producer will aim to form a connection for an audience to a film. However, there's comfort in a screen lying between a film and its viewer. It...

Thoughts Behind...

Search This Blog