In 1997, Carl Sagan’s science fiction novel Contact was finally adapted to film by director Robert Zemeckis. Although originally written as a film in 1980 by Sagan and his wife Ann Druyen, production proved to be troublesome leading Sagan to publish Contact as a novel in 1985. The film portrays humanity’s first contact with extraterrestrials, but unlike most alien encounter stories that concentrate on the direct conflict of humans meeting aliens, Contact focuses on humanity’s cultural struggles when it encounters uncertain extraterrestrial events. Sagan tries to depict these struggles as realistically as he can by incorporating characters that support a variety of differing viewpoints towards faith and the supernatural. Despite his attempt to portray all of these perspectives without bias, Sagan has an inclination in support of maintaining uncertainty towards supernatural events without substantial proof for or against.
Contact’s protagonist Ellie (portrayed by Jodie Foster) is a scientist for the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI) project, struggling to survive in a male-dominated profession while working on a project that has high operating costs without any promise of success. Her sole ambition is to discover extraterrestrial life, but after iterative attempts to revive her fruitless project she is once again facing the imminent termination of all of her funding. In the project’s final days, Ellie discovers an extraterrestrial signal originating near the star Vega that repetitiously pulses a sequence of prime numbers. Further analysis of the signal yields a structured layer containing a video of Adolf Hitler’s opening speech at the 1936 Berlin Summer Olympics; Ellie hypothesizes that the speech was the first str...
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...llent job of representing most sides of the debate over the supernatural: the government, the science community, the public, the media, and moderate religion.
I think that somebody needs to have a certain special interest in watching Contact before they choose to do so. It’s just not that great of a movie: the plot is dry, the love story is weak and it is really long. However, if you have an interest in SETI, the existence of extraterrestrials, the conflict between religion and science, or skepticism then it is possible that you will enjoy the movie due to the familiar content like I did. Like most movie and novel comparisons, I have heard that the novel is far superior. Carl Sagan’s bias is definitely present both in how the characters act and how the events are explained, but I enjoy considering his viewpoints and do not find that his bias detracts from the movie.
An example of a bias is when a counselor uses an treatment plan “one size fits all”. Counselor should be careful because not all clients have the same problems and will required additional support then others. According to Snowden (2003) states “Bias occurs in the beliefs and actions of individual clinicians, and it is at this level that it has received the greatest amount of attention. Bias also occurs when unfounded assumptions become normative beliefs shared by members of practitioner networks or treatment organizations. Bias occurs too when authorities and community members become particularly intolerant of minority individuals with mental illnesses and differentially enforce conformity norms of acceptable behavior”. Therefore, counselors
As a viewer, the documentary’s intention to inform is more completely fulfilled by research conducted beyond the scope of the camera lens. Had I never written this paper, for instance, the reason for all the violence embedded within the subject matter would remain as enigmatic as the documentary itself.
Of all the literary critical theories yet discussed, I find reception theory by far the most intelligent and rewarding. After all, where does literature become literature, where does it "happen" so to speak, if not in the mind of the reader? Without the reader, literature is inky blobs on paper. This correlates to Berkeley's solipsistic analogy of a tree falling in the woods. Without a listener does it make a sound? Well, technically, it emanates vibrations, but only an ear will interpret those vibrations as sound. Thus with literature. The mind of the reader, operating on the text with it's various literary and extra-textual codes, makes it literature.
How many people who believe in the paranormal have you met? Probably a few, right? A good majority of the population believes in the paranormal, whether the reason for it is religion or actual experience, or otherwise. A lot of people, though, actually believe in the paranormal as a result of it being popularized by the media (CSICOP 3). Whenever the public finds a case even mildly out of the ordinary, like accounts of hidden realms or sightings of a ghost, it leads up to a sudden boom of believers (CSICOP 3). Among these are the few that dare to adventure this world of information we know nothing about; this world is the paranormal (SV;SV). Some of these could be psychic mediums, or fortunetellers, who are usually written off as crazy. There are also those called paranormal researchers. They investigate the paranormal to try to find a reasonable explanation for sightings or hauntings. It is a pseudoscience; the paranormal is seen as this because there hasn’t been any “valid” proof of its existence (GS;SS). Many of these people only aim to make paranormal researching a valid science. The fact is that it’s heavily influenced by colorful and flamboyant believers, reducing its credibility, so to speak, but as technology and attitudes in America have changed, so too has paranormal research.
Contact, whether with those around us or those out in space, involves an image in one’s mind of the other being different. What Stanislaw Lem states in Solaris is that contact between humans and extra-terrestrial life is impossible until we change not only that mentality, but our reluctance to accept differences in one another.
Before I had ever heard of this book I had a great curiosity and passion about aliens and the "untold history of mankind." I was hooked before I opened the front cover; I didn't care what kind of credentials this author had. The only thing that bugged me was the age of this book. Published in 1968 left me a little worried, hoping this book wouldn't be too outdated. The speculation and theories are what interest me and that's exactly what this book is all about. Throughout the whole book the author is keenly aware that his explanations and ideas are constantly and will continually be discredited by professionals acros...
Director Mark Herman presents a narrative film that attests to the brutal, thought-provoking Nazi regime, in war-torn Europe. It is obvious that with Herman’s relatively clean representation of this era, he felt it was most important to resonate with the audience in a profound and philosophical manner rather than in a ruthlessness infuriating way. Despite scenes that are more graphic than others, the films objective was not to recap on the awful brutality that took place in camps such as the one in the movie. The audience’s focus was meant to be on the experience and life of a fun-loving German boy named Bruno. Surrounding this eight-year-old boy was conspicuous Nazi influences. Bruno is just an example of a young child among many others oblivious of buildings draped in flags, and Jewis...
It is interesting to watch a movie like “Contact” and then wonder if any parts of it can be true in today’s society. Things like Area 51 in Nevada, and how maybe aliens do exist on earth in Area 51. Another possibility is that life does exist in the universe but we have just not discovered it. Thinking if only 1 in a million planets had life, there would still be billions of planets that contain life in the universe. This movie affects me because it peeks my interest in space exploration possibly leading me to choose a career that deals with space such as a Telecommunication
Implicit biases lie within the unconscious mind, and influence the attitudes, stereotypes, beliefs, and relationships of human beings. These biases are unconscious and spontaneous, and are usually the result of habits, or observations based on experiences. There are several factors that contribute to implicit biases: cognitive, sociocultural, and motivational. Social categorization, which is the process in which humans classify groups of people according to correlative traits or similar characteristics, would be considered a cognitive factor.
The idea of aliens has been a topic numerous Hollywood movie producers and writers have been creating blockbuster movies and novels since 1902 with the French movie A Trip to the Moon. The existence of Extraterrestrial life has been seen as a possibility through the discovery of Exoplanets, Kepler Missions, and mathematical formulas. Others doubt the possibilities of an Alien species such as Enrico Fermi, and Pope Zachary. Although the thought of aliens has created numerous cults and science fiction books, many mainstream scientist have begun devoting money and time seeking the answer, do aliens exist?
To start off, the movie Contact, is about a woman name Eleanor Arroway. Eleanor started to disbelieve in god since she lost her two parents. With that trauma she had a different view about life outside of Earths atmosphere. Since Eleanor was a little girl she has always been into science, specifically extraterrestrial life. During the movie Eleanor collaborates with a team of scientist colleagues, as Eleanor is observing the radio waves Eleanor then realizes that there is active waves coming from star Vega.
Considering the fact that the average rate of a legal counsel is $350 per hour, very few clients can afford an extensive litigation despite their notions of righteousness and a desire for a justice to triumph. Mediating civil and family disputes offers a great alternative to the litigation and relieves the pressure off the Canadian justice system that is already over-burdened and backlogged. Whether parties enter mediation as a mandatory court ordered process as in civil cases, or whether parties enter mediation freely as in family law cases, the expectations of parties remain the same. Parties expect mediators to be neutral, impartial and objective when conducting mediation sessions, however, and to the dismay of many, even mediators are vulnerable and susceptible to implicit cognitive biases that guide their thinking processes and behaviour.
An implicit bias can happen on the unconscious level. There are many factors in life that are predetermined and can set a boundary for bias to occur. Gender and occupations are the main areas in which I see implicit biases. Many high end or powerful companies are often run by men and women are usually working underneath them. This stems from the society believing that men should take a science route and women more of a liberal arts pathway. The gender-science IAT, tests for implicit biases and shows how the unconscious mind categorizes gender between science and liberal arts.
My biases and stereotypes arise from lack of knowledge and assumptions, specifically in the realm of human sexuality and behavior. When I am prompted to think about “BDSM,” those four letters insinuate a lot about a person to me which, I realize is a complete judgement. The term BDSM stands for bondage and discipline, dominance and submission, and sadism and masochism, and has several meanings depending on the person’s preference. However, I automatically think of a harmful, even abusive relationship. I picture two individuals that enter a “relationship” where one person allows their partner to control them sexually. I think of a dominant and submissive person. I am prone to think of a man/woman partnership where the
There are many different types of relationships. From your neighbor to your significant other, experiencing different relationships is a part of everyday life. Wether you posses good or bad communication skills will affect the interpersonal relationships within your life. The popular television series Modern Family is a good example of the different types of friendships, types of love, and relationship theories that encompass the everyday person.