As individuals we oftentimes perceive objects, situations, and circumstances based on our outside view. We never look deeper into the matter; instead we are blinded by our initial perception and create a false reality in our minds. We are only capable of finding reality if we liberate our stubborn grasp on initial judgements. “Dwelling Place” by P.K. Page suggests that when individuals acquire an insider’s perspective on specific situations they are capable of perceiving a genuine reality and abolishing the illusion that was created through false initial perceptions. However, those that analyze situations from the outside will be constrained by these initial perceptions, and will develop an illusion that is far from the truth. In “Dwelling …show more content…
It is evident that outsiders believe that their perceptions are correct due to their initial discernment’s. However, without looking on the inside, you will never be aware of the reality behind the front that has been set. The first instance in which this is exemplified is when Page suggests that the machine “[conforms] as a bus”. This elucidates that out lookers perceive this object in a simplistic manner, they take their initial perceptions and identify similarities, such as “its ‘metal’”, and immediately connect their observations to other objects and form an illusion. Nonetheless, the habitant understands the truth. He is aware that “its ‘metal’” is in fact “more sensitive than chrome or brass”. This illuminates that you will never be aware of the genuine characteristics, unless you have familiarized yourself with the object or situation. Furthermore, the habitant views his “soft machine” as a place where “two worlds meet”, …show more content…
The habitant, within this poem, is able to personify his home because he is aware of its identity and characteristics. This is demonstrated when he explains that by looking on the outside “through some aperture” he has the ability to see all that the machine is. The habitant can view the machine as a person, where “it sleeps, it weeps… it laughs”. He is able to see the machine for what it really is, he adopts a view and understanding that is much more complex than what other’s would adopt. By learning about the situation, and familiarizing yourself with it, you can see the truth. Whereas, the individuals that do not familiarize themselves with the situation would be naïve and ignorant, causing them to create a false, simplistic illusion. Moreover, when you develop a true understanding you are able to control the situation. This is established when it is said that the habitant “[plots] its course and [watches] it as it moves”. The habitant is aware of the places the machine has been because he has control of the destination. When the illusion is abolished and a true understanding is established, then you are capable of attaining the power to control your own
In Kafka’s The Penal Colony, the machine is both a symbol of imagine and literal power which also reminds me of the machine that is mentioned in Karen Russell’s Reeling for the Empire who also illustrated it as an embodiment of power. In both stories, the two machines are inanimate objects but for some reason they possess this power and seen as almighty objects even though they aren’t human. In The Fine Line, Zerubavel states that “It is the fact that it is differentiated from other entities that provides an entity with a distinctive meaning as well as a distinctive identity that sets it apart from everything else.” I believe that it means that power, control, and borders only exist if people believe in them.
When looking into the inner workings of a machine, one does not see each individual gear as being separate, but as an essential part of a larger system. Losing one gear would cause the entire system to stop working and eventually fail. This concept of mechanics lays the foundation to many issues touched on in Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison. The machine imagery comes through in two conversations with men that the invisible man may idolize, though he does not realize this at the time. The first of these conversations is with the veteran, while the second is with Lucius Brockway. Though the two may not qualify as “main characters,” they both play a crucial role, or as two gears in the system of Invisible Man. While one has a more literal focus on machineries than the other, both men have similar ideas of the topics they inadvertently discuss. Both conversations pave the way to the narrator’s awakening and the realization of his use in society. Within Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, the narrator’s various interactions with people regarding machines allow him to acquire knowledge in regar...
In "On Entering a New Place", Barry Lopez discusses how perception can be deceiving when trying something new that you don't completely understand. Typically, a person would be uncomfortable about the unknown so in their minds they theorize what could be. To continue getting rid of their nerves, they run their ideas through their heads multiple times until they believe that is how it's supposed to be.
There was a moment in “This Old House” when the young man looked around the house and noticed all the clutter, he thought maybe he was a part of the clutter or possibly the clutter was him. We tend to notice things after being a part of something bigger than yourself, but when we finally notice it may be too late. “Given enough time, I guess, anything can look good. All it has to do is survive” (264). Once the opportunity presents itself; you either get the desire to become something you are or something you wish you were, by branching away in order to live on your own, which reality sets and we are now independent. I am talking about the protagonist in this essay, which he starts to learn things while he is isolated and more independent from the others. When rosemary told the young man about how her father died, they also mentioned how crazy some people were, depending on their hat tolerance. Why is that you think? I believe it is a metaphor on how hats goes through so many adventure and you may notice its ragged up look after a while, but at the end of the day what has it been through to make it special. Well we come to find out that the young man finally views all the antiques and clutter around the house as to something that once was, but is now “Given enough time, I guess, anything can look good. All it has to do is survive” (264). He couldn’t explain the feeling that he may have figured out who he was for the first time in this essay, but throughout time we will figure out ourselves and possibly enjoy a happy
The title of this essay “Silence and the Notion of the Commons” gives the same idea of people as programmable and unprogrammable similar to the idea seen in the Matrix. Whereas programmable people, who are the commons, are the people inside the matrix they are also known as the sheep, the people that believe in everything they are told. The unprogrammable people, who are the silence, are the people outside of the matrix. Ursula Franklin uses a variety of techniques in order for the audience to fully understand her message, and to inform them of the topics discussed in her essay, as is particularly apparent in paragraph 5 of her essay “Silence and the Notion of the Commons.”
machine.” This quote demonstrates the loss of individuality; the man was nothing but a pawn in industrial game. Throughout the journey to California they run across many
Seeing things in other people perspective is crucial to keep a serene relationship between people. For instance, failure to consider another person’s point of view is one of the main causes of prejudice in the world. Prejudiced people judge preconceive opinions that are not based on reason or actual experience. For example, a prejudiced person might look at a homeless person with disdain and say, “Get a job or get lost!” From the prejudiced persons point of view, the homeless person is unwilling to work, lazy, and
“I shall briefly explain how I conceive this matter. Look round the world: Contemplate the whole and every part of it: You will find it to be nothing but one great machine, subdivided into an infinite number of lesser machines, which again admit of subdivisions, to a degree beyond what human senses and faculties can trace and explain. All these various machines, and even their most minute parts, are adjusted to each other with an accuracy, which ravishes into admiration all men, who have ever contemplated them. The curious adapting of means to ends, throughout all nature, resembles exactly, though it much exceeds, the productions of human contrivance; of human design, thought, wisdom, and intelligence. Since therefore the effects
This thought suggests that humans are, by nature and without political intervention, peaceable, cooperative, and selfless (2002, p. 6). Pinker explains that this belief underlies much of politics, the hope for cultural improvement, and a peaceable vision of future society (2002, p. 26). However, this belief effects not just proactive policy, but also inspires fear by invoking the slippery-slope argument of innatist theories, arguing that they are grounds for all the social ills we fear (racism, socio-economic prejudice) (Pinker, 2002, p. 28). The Ghost in the Machine provides the last piece in Pinker’s framework: the theory that the body and mind are distinct from one another, the mind acting independently from the body and providing an indivisible meta awareness and guidance to the human being (2002, p. 9). This thought seems to be supported by a creationist viewpoint, as it alludes to a being similar to a puppeteer that forms and initially animates the mind of living beings in their beginning (Pinker, 2002, p. 29). Pinker points out early on that one key inconsistency is individuals’ efforts to improve society (2002, p. 28). Improvements made to society by products of that society seems to be a circular logic and ineffective approach to the perfecting process (Pinker, 2002, p. 28). Indeed, how do we know what would ameliorate society? But according to this way of thinking the ghost, the mind as a separate entity, guides this process (Pinker, 2002, p.
The poem focuses on the son’s feelings and thoughts as he is looking up at what he perceives to be his father’s hospital window. The second stanza concretes the literal foundation for the poem—the son is despondent about the gravity of the situation revolving around his father’s cond...
The speaker of the poem is a widower who is having trouble in dealing with his wife’s death. There is a vacuum in his house that used to belong to his wife. When his wife was still alive “she used to crawl, in the corner and under the stair” (line 12), vacuuming every little place. Now his wife has passed away and the house has gone to waste.
“Its deserted streets are a potent symbol of man and nature 's indifference to the individual. The insistence of the narrator on his own self-identity is in part an act of defiance against a constructed, industrial world that has no place for him in its order” (Bolton). As the poem continues on, the narrator becomes aware of his own consciousness as he comes faces nature and society during his walk. He embraces nature with the rain, dark and moon but he also reinforces his alienation from society as he ignores the watchman and receives no hope of cries for him. The societal ignorance enforces our belief that he is lonely on this gloomy night. “When he passes a night watchman, another walker in the city with whom the speaker might presumably have some bond, he confesses, ‘I… dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain.’ Likewise, when he hears a voice in the distance, he stops in his tracks--only to realize that the voice is not meant "to call me back or say goodbye" (Bolton). The two times he had a chance to interact with the community, either he showed no interest in speaking or the cry wasn’t meant for him. These two interactions emphasize his loneliness with the
A home, many people spent their whole life in search of his or her home. It has many different definitions to different people. To some people it may be their home country, to some it may be where they were born, to some it may be where their family is. home's most basic trait is its ability to provide shelter from weather. Rain or snow, a house will always be there to shield the elements from the family. In the cold times of the year, the heater will be there to warm the house. The heat of the summer is no problem for a good home. The ideal dwelling definitely must have a dependable central air conditioner. When located in an area abundant with tornadoes and hurricanes, a home must have a safe place. A storm shelter or a basement is an excellent place to hide. But to most people home has more meaning than just dwelling it should be a place where their family is, where they could have family times together.
This shows that no matter how many machines we create, they will never be nothing like humans. They will not be able to operate on their own. We humans operate on time and have schedules and watches to remind us what we do and when we do it. In this story, there is a clock that all the machines operate on. When the clock says a certain time, it turns on a different machines to either clean the house, cook or read a bedtime story.
According to Horkheimer and Adorno (H&A), the way in which people navigate their surrounding world is through one of projection. Specifically, this projection involves distinguishing “between their own thoughts and feelings and those of others”. Eventually, “a distinction emerges between outer and inner, the possibility of detachment and of identification, self-consciousness and conscience”. Problems arise then, when false projection is committed, leading to a confusion of ownership regarding what is truly intrinsic to the self. When people are unaware of the parts of themselves that are susceptible to external influence, they fall victim easily to manipulation. Furthermore, when people cast aside qualities of themselves and falsely project them onto others, it distorts their perceptions of reality at large, causing them to antagonize those who, in their delusion, personified the traits that they themselves reviled. The consequences of false projection are thus severe. H&A for example,