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About reality vs fantasy
"The Minority Report" by Philip K. Dick annotated
Essays on the minority report by philip k. dick
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Society today can be so indulged in their lifestyle, that perhaps we become immune from what truly occurs in our everyday lives. Unexpected and tragic events happen too often, but majority of the time are dismissed because of people having no affiliation with that event. A daunting statistic reported from the New York Times states “ In 209 out of 336 days last year, at least one shooting left four or more people injured or dead in the United States”. Now, for the average American those numbers may not even seem real. However, reality being, this is the unhearted society we live in. In the short story “The Minority Report” by Philip K. Dick and “The Sandy Hook Hoax” by Reeves Wiedeman, both protagonists Lenny Pozner and John A. Anderton face an underlying challenge of being involved in a conspiracy theory. Lenny, who was once a serious conspiracist, never would imagined his son Noah being killed in a mass shooting and involved in a conspiracy. John A. Anderton, head …show more content…
Anderton’s initial reaction of knowing he will murder someone results in him being unrealistic, therefore there is no way this could happen. The system of precrime must be flawed because he is essentially the leader of it all. Ultimately Anderton commits his crime and his very last lines are “ Better keep your eyes open,” he informed young Witwer. “ It might happen to you at any time” (102). Through this quotation, Philip K. Dick illustrates how someone who was once in a comfortable position is now on the other side of the trigger. Anderton could never see the truth of himself being close minded, and believing the unexpected would never happen. Furthermore, if Anderton had been more realistic, he could come to grips with his murder being real. Just because someone is in a higher position does not mean they are untouchable. Anderton failed to be open minded with the system of
Conspiracy theories are entertaining for many to speculate and demand a great deal of thought to constitute. A conspiracy theory is defined as the idea that many important political, economic, and social trends are the products of secret plots that are largely unknown to the general public (“The Definition of Conspiracy Theory”). Many conspiracy theories are thought up around children’s shows, which offers a feeling of nostalgia and pleasure. A few children’s show conspiracies that need a deeper light shone on them are from Max & Ruby (2002-2013), Winnie the Pooh (1977), Rugrats (1990-2004), and All Grown Up (2003-2008).
This section was given in order to show why conspiracy theories are appealing to the average person and how anybody can create one. Next, research data on the general personality and mental state of conspiracy theorists was introduced with believers being more likely to be cynical and have low self-worth (Koerth-Baker 343). Afterward a brief explanation is given on the amygdala, a part of the brain which activates after fear is felt, and how it is crucial to the creation of the various theories we have today. There has also been research showing a correlation between theorizing and strong support of democratic principles due to the fact that conspiracy theories wouldn’t exist without real conspiracies coming to light (Koerth-Baker 344). Then, Koerth begins to talk about how an abundance of available knowledge on the internet has made destroying conspiracy theories even more difficult due to the constant use of confirmation bias. In 2006 scientists discovered an event called the “backfire effect” where any attempts to debunk a theory makes it more popular to the people, but the effect seems more noticeable when it supports a worldview or ideology (Koerth-Baker
In Hitchcock’s narrative structure, he focuses on relationships. The relationship between society and their thoughts of morality, guilt and innocence. In the film, we never witness a murder, only the outcome of them. What we do see are the reactions to the killings. Every single week, the newspapers write
Conspiracy theorists, calling themselves Truthers, have provided evidence to support their claims numerous times in attempts to convince the general population. Truthers start by pointing out the FBI Crime They demand the government to explain what really happened and that justice be fairly served. They have not had an open playing field, however, they received opposition at every move they make with explanations, counterarguments, and information from the government, police forces, first responders, and the residents of Newtown.
Overall, the story raises questions: is the future set and unchangeable, or can free will create an alternate future/reality? Can free will still exist, if the future is known in advance? The fact that there are three precog reports suggests three alternate futures, therefore the existence of several time paths all existing concurrently. Dick suggests that all the time paths are intertwined at some point, and that the existence of a countless number of time paths entails that something can be done to create a better future from the predictions of the precogs. This is shown by the fact that the pre-crime division is able to stop crimes before they even happen. This main theme is also drawn from the paradox that Witwer raises: the pre-crime division arrests individuals who have broken no law. Anderton defends pre-crime by stating that these individuals will eventually commit the crime and their arrest does not change the fact that they would have committed a crime. This then, presents the idea that the future is rigid and whichever path someone takes will lead exactly to one specific moment that cannot be avoided. Therefore, Dick raises a theme of Determination, cancelling the existence of free
The United States will not soon forget the rampage at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut that came just two weeks before Christmas last year. This tragic event resulted in the death of twenty students and eight adults. Although the event shocked the nation, rampage shootings are nothing new. Over the years, many families have lost loved ones to these horrific events. As a result, these mass shootings such as the one that occurred at Sandy Hook Elementary caught public attention leading to a push to find the cause of these events. Out of this research a variety of possible causes came to light consisting of arguments stating that high school bullying, availability of guns, mental illness, violent movies and video games are the cause of mass shootings. However, these researchers and debaters tend to ignore the role of massive media coverage in the increase of copycat shootings in the United States.
In the United States there has been, “372 mass shootings in the US in 2015, killing 475 people and wounding 1,870” (BBC). Some recent shootings in the United States, for instance are Sandy Hook, Antigo high school in Wisconsin where there was one death and two injured, Madison high school in Ohio where 4 kids under the age of 15 were shot and injured, etc. One shooting in particular that will be focused on is
While Alfred Hitchcock is most well known for causing his audiences to feel fear, there is more to his movies then that. The themes of inadequateness of the police, control of all details in his films, and long stretches of no dialogue are prevalent in several of his films. He does not just happen to do these things by chance, but they are all related to things that happened to him during his childhood and his early career. No one can escape their past and not let it influence at least part of their life, and Alfred Hitchcock was no exception.
Terror is rising day by day all over the world, and United States is no exception. There have been mass shootings at schools, shopping malls, music concerts and even at a movie theatre. So far, there have been 398 mass shootings recorded only in the past 50 years which resulted in 1996 deaths and 2488 people injured[1]. According to Van Dorn et al., a history of childhood abuse, binge drinking, and male gender are all predictive risk factors for serious violence[2]. The average number of genocides is 7 per year for last 50 years which took 39 lives and 48 person injuries per year[1]. These incidents affect the society on a high rate which in turn contributes for such situations again indirectly.
Gun violence has been and continues to be one of the major problems in American. The U.S. has the highest rate of gun ownership in the world and consequently the highest rate of gun violence and fatalities compared to other developed countries. In a study by the University of Sydney it is estimated that there are 270,000,000 to 310,000,000 guns in the United States. According to the same study in 2010 there were 31,672 fatalities caused by firearms and on the following year the number went up to 32,163. Homicides resulting from guns are high in the United States and they are claiming more than eleven thousand lives every year (Guns in the United States: Firearms, Armed Violence and Gun Law). According to Vision for Humanity, an initiative for the Economics and Peace, the United States is ranked 99 out of 162 countries in the 2013 global peace index, homicide rates and violent crimes are among the various criteria used to determine the ranking (Vision of Humanity). Mass shootings at work places, schools, shopping malls and places of worship are happening in an a...
In 2013, research conducted by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) defined public mass shootings as events that happened in a public place where four or more people were injured or died as a result of gunfire. CRS also argued that the gunman typically selected their victims at random. J. Harris and R. Harris (2012) referred to public mass shootings as rampage violence. Ironically, following each tragic public mass shooting identified above, there were spirited debates about gun control among political pundits, government officials and the American people, deliberations on the influence of media and entertainment glorifying violence, gaps in mental health services and a commitment to address the problem but to no avail. With no progress made on addressing public mass shootings, it was concluded that current research on mass violence has been ineffective and required some modification (J. Harris & R. Harris, 2012).
Eighty-nine people die from gun violence in the United States every day according to the Brady Campaign , from school children to victims of domestic violence to people going about their daily lives. As we mourn the lives of those killed in incidents of gun violence across the country, we need to take action. We should all do everything in our power to keep tragedies like this from happening again. When it comes to addressing mass shootings, we need new answers
With the media shining so much light upon this topic, it is evident that mass murders in the United States of America are more frequent and deadly. In fact, studies have found that the USA has more mass public shootings than any other country (Christensen). These numbers have only been increasing in the past decades. This is shocking because the USA holds only 5 percent of the world’s population, but as a nation, contributes to 31 percent of mass murders (Christensen). Although these murders continue to be a rare phenomenon, weak gun laws, the need for fame, and issues with societal views are the main causes of the increase in cases.
It is not a place where many sophisticated businessmen would choose to spend their afternoons, but there is beauty in such bleakness, as Hitchcock focuses on. A slow establishing shot of the area emphasizes Thornhill's vulnerability in such unfamiliar surroundings. This is vital because, up until this moment, Thornhill has managed to charm, bribe or talk his way out of whatever danger is about to befall him. In this scene, Hitchcock, the masochist, is at pains to make his character appear as helpless and exposed as possible.
Since the beginning of settled civilizations, people have had more mutual sharings than ever before. By the same token, there have been some conspiracy theories that are usually against the culturally accepted beliefs of religions, science and society. A conspiracy theory can be described so differently. However, as in his text, Marshall Brain explicates, a conspiracy is generally defined as a theory seeking to explain a disputed case or matter as a plot by a secret group or alliance rather than an individual or isolated act (Brain). Especially, after the new media has become quite popular, more and more conspiracies are theorized every single day, which aim to catch society’s attention via such media tools as the internet, journals and newspapers. Thus, people who theorize those conspiracies tend to use such objects as spiritual and mysterious ones in order to interest people. To illustrate, many examples can be given. For instance, many people have claimed that they were abducted by aliens, although they could show no evidences. Here, a citation from Blackmore could facilitate to understand the circumstance better. She states that people occasionally claim that they have been abducted from public places by aliens, in this case that may provide them with witnesses and affirmations but no evidence could be shown so far (Blackmore). As it is well known, only a small number of people believe such alien abductions, however, rating of this kind of news is quite high on media, because humankind has been wondering if there are extraterrestrial creatures out of the earth. Another example can be conspiracy theories which are about the origins of religions such as the rejection of Jesus Christ. There are some people who pay attention to...