Phase 2: Smacks of Rebllion

"And the song. I get to sing every note of the song. Something inside me shuts down and I'm too numb to feel anything. It's like watching complete strangers in another Hunger Games. But I do notice they omit the part where I covered her in flowers. Right. Because even that smacks of rebellion" (Collins 363).


          It seems that the recurring theme of governmental control and censorship comes up throughout the course of the novel. When I read this passage in the book, I could feel exactly what was happening to Katniss while I read it. When she said that she started to feel numb, I could understand that she was beginning to realize that no matter what kind of person she was, it didn't matter, because the people who broadcast the Hunger Games would make her out to be the character that they want her to be. If that character they want her to be is a relentless killer, then they can make her that way. It happens specifically in this passage when Katniss eliminates one of the competitors in the Games, but they omit the part where after she kills her, she covers her in flowers, because Katniss actually cares, and feels sorrow for having to kill another competitor, but that is just the nature of the Hunger Games. She adds a bit of irony at the end, saying that covering another competitor in flowers after killing them just screams rebellion.
          Again, the purpose has to deal with the censorship of the government feeding viewers of The Hunger Games whatever information they want to feed them. Like previously mentioned, the author uses irony to convey the point of censoring meaningless things that wouldn't convey a certain message that wouldn't even have a huge affect on the viewing audience. It was just a kind gesture. The purpose that goes along with the passage is that by this point, Katniss knows what the game is, and to this point, she feels nothing, because her actions don't mean anything for her, they mean whatever the game makers want her to mean. Since the Hunger Games is so widely viewed as a sporting event like the Super Bowl would be viewed by us now, it is a form of propaganda to remind citizens that this is a consequence for the rebellion that happened in District 13.
          It puts things into perspective and makes one think what if your life was only known by other people as portrayed by somebody else? That is in reality of the novel, what is happening in this passage. Their depiction of the future in connecting the Hunger Games to large sporting events today, reveals that in the present, we are heavily influenced by propaganda, and we may not even know it. The media can present whatever information they want to us, and we choose to believe it. The media uses images and language in a manner where, it seems plausible and believable, so we choose to believe it. But in the end, this passage shows that being human, isn't about what others see about you, but what your underlying character is that makes you a good human being as Katniss is.
          This passage actually reminds me of the future of screen technology post that I had talked about before. The idea of the screen technology seemed far fetched to me when I viewed it. The user reshapes and resizes the screen to his liking, and in addition bends the concepts of physics and reality.  But yet again, this is just what we choose to believe. This is what media is feeding to us, but in contrast to the Hunger Games, the idea of this touch screen seems too unbelievable to be true, and that is why I choose not to believe it.

Phase 2: Unknown Districts

"It's interesting, hearing about her life. We have so little communication with anyone outside our district. In fact, I wonder if the Gamemakers are blocking out our conversation, because even though the information seems harmless, they don't want people in different districts to know about one another" (Collins 283).


          Imagine a life in the present, where you weren't aloud to know anybody outside of your hometown. I don't know what I would do if I was stuck in Malden, knowing that if I tried to leave, I would be dead or killed. This is in a nutshell, what Katniss is saying in this passage. As this is her first time hearing about another person's life outside of District 12, she finds is interesting. She then comes to the realization that the government has such relentless regulations that she doesn't know anything about anybody else outside of her District. Is this a technique of the government? she wonders. She then adds that although the information that is exchanged between one another between districts may be harmless, that the government further protects each district from one another as a safety precaution. I feel like the government is scared that if rebellion does break out, they won't have anything to do if all the districts collectively rebel.
          The overall effect of the passage is that Katniss has been thinking about the life that she has been living. Beginning to evaluate this life she has lived is prompting her to realize how stifled she has been her whole life. Collins purposely makes her interactions with other characters this way to show the growth of Katniss as a character developing into a dystopian protagonist. In the context of the passage, since she had just found out about the life of another, she realizes that the makers of The Hunger Games controls the information each district knows about each other, and therefore helps the government by making each district unknown by others. This censorship of information keeps each district isolated and therefore easier to manage.
          Again, this connects to the question on what it means to be human. With freedom there is knowledge of exploration. One of the important things about being human to me, is that humans gain knowledge. And by leaving the walls of our home, and meeting new people, that knowledge is expanded by a great amount. But the passage also reveals that in the present by contrast we are free and we are fortunate enough not to live in the relentless regulations that they have to go through in each District in Panem. However, this future does make me think in perspective of if the government ever tried to control us this way, what would I do? I believe that especially growing up in a Democratic state such as Massachusetts, that there would be too many protesters collectively from all over the country that would make such control impossible.
          This passage reminds me of Wall-E and the fact that Wall-E was stranded on Earth while all other inhabitants moved up into space. All of Wall-E's life was spent on Earth cleaning the rubbish junk that was left there after the natural disaster. Wall-E had no information of what life was beyond his job cleaning Earth just as Katniss and other inhabitants of the district have no idea what life is outside of their own.

Phase 2: They Don't Own Me

"Gale's voice is in my head. His ravings against the Capitol no longer pointless, no longer to be ignored. Rue's death has forced me to confront my own fury against the cruelty, the injustice they inflict upon us. But here, even more strongly than at home, I feel my imptotence. There's no way to take revenge on the Capitol. Is there?
Then I remember Peeta's words on the roof. 'Only I keep wishing I could think of a way to... to show the Capitol they don't own me. That I'm more than just a piece in their Games.' And for the first time, I understand what he means.
I want to do something, right here, right now, to shame them, to make them accountable, to show the Capitol that whatever they do or force us to do is a part of every tribute they can't own. That Rue is more than a piece in their games. And so am I" (Collins 236-237)


          In this powerful passage, Katniss begins to harden her mold of being a rebellious character in the Hunger Games. Before, she seemed like she was reluctant, and that she was still conforming because she had no idea what to do with herself, if she were to begin to rebel against the government. But in this passage, she seems to have a change of heart by showing her conviction and determination to show the government officials of Panem that she is not a force to be reckoned with, and that she is no puppet. Katniss recalls on the quotes and ideas of Gale and Peeta who feel the same way as she does. It does in addition, touch upon the censorship idea in the government, because if three of these characters in the book feel this way, perhaps all other citizens especially in District 12 feel this way as well.
           All along, Katniss had been talking to Gale and Peeta about life in general in District 12. Both Gale and Peeta expressed their discerning outrage on the fact that the government owns the people. Yet Katniss never understood the full meaning of their words until this point where she finally realizes and agrees with their outlooks on the subject. The passage is to show that all along, Katniss's doubt is finally turning into realization, even though it took her until she was in the Hunger Games to realize that she had all along been a puppet to the government, and that she finally wants revenge just like Gale and Peeta. She even says that for the first time, she understands what Peeta means when he talks about how he wants the Capitol to know that they don't own him.
           In the end, the passage touches upon the question of what it is to be human. Being human is much more than what they experience in The Hunger Games and District 12. To them, life has been all about conformity and staying alive without any freedom. But to us, as humans, we believe that we have rights, and that they should not be taken away from us. Though we don't have relentless regulations reminding us that we could be killed for any reason, to be human to us first and foremost means that we retain our rights and individuality. We are encouraged to explore and find out what else is out there in the world. Being human is also about finding one's self, and it seems that the characters in The Hunger Games spend so much time worrying about their lives and government, that they never find the time to find self-realization.
          This passage reminds me of the picture of the rich man walking away with money as other working class people are left on a plank to fall over a cliff. It tips the balance of society, and to me, the rich man walking away is the government in The Hunger Games and Katniss is just one of the people hanging over the cliff in the picture. It connects to the idea of inequality of government control in the Capitol and Panem. No government should have absolute control of their citizens. Actually there should be no absolute control in general.

Phase 2: Reminder of Our Weakness

"After the war, the capitol destroyed all the nests surrounding the city, but the ones near the districts were left untouched. Another reminder of our weakness, I suppose, just like the Hunger Games. Another reason to keep inside the fence of District 12" (Collins 186).


          In this passage, the narrator is referring to the mutant tracker jackers in the nests surrounding the city. Early on in the novel, we find out that is is forbidden to go out into the wild nests surrounding each district for there are deadly, rabid animals found in there that could kill in a heartbeat. Even Katniss, the hunter that she is now, was afraid and reluctant to go out into this wilderness at first. But without her exploration of the nest, Katniss would never have attained her great hunting skills. I find this tactic by the government a bit extensive, but I'm am not surprised at all by this feat. Think about all the control the government already has on their citizens in each District. They control their economy, their actions, their words, and their location. It is no wonder why Katniss feels trapped in District 12.
          The purpose of the passage is simple, and it is to further shine the light on the governmental take-over that has already taken place in all the Districts. Ever since the event that caused District 13 to become ashes, there is no room for any other district to even try to rebel, or else they will suffer the same fate. That is in essence what The Hunger Games is a reminder of. And the author uses this as another example when Katniss says that this is just another reminder of their weakness, just as The Hunger Games are. It further elaborates on the absolute control the government has over them. To the point that each citizen is reminded how weak, and feeble they are. Especially because District 12 is one of the worse off districts, no one would even dare to try to leave through the nest, although Katniss and Dale did think about doing so before the reaping at the beginning of the book.
          This passage connects to one of our greater questions on manipulation of one's mind. How does one do so? In this case, the government is planting images of danger and destruction in these nest areas. These mutant tracker jackers are a form of governmental control in that, all citizens begin to have an image of danger associated with rebellion. In that way, the government retains every citizen in each of their Districts because all citizens know that to leave the district means that they might as well call it suicide.
          In one of my older posts, I mentioned The Anti-Christ, and this post seems to be related to it in the way that we think about the Anti-Christ. Immediately when people think of the Anti-Christ terms such as The Second Coming come to mind, and we all have images associated with it. It seems as though the image of leaving the district in The Hunger Games seems to have the same connotation of death and leaves a sense of foreboding among many of the citizens in Panem.

Phase 2: Trained Dog

"All I can think is how unjust the whole thing is, the Hunger Games. Why am I hopping around like some trained dog trying to please people I hate? The longer the interview goes on, the more my fury seems to rise to the surface, until I'm literally spitting out answers at him" (Collins 117).

          This passage actually reminds me of Fahrenheit 451, when the main character Guy Montag from one of my previous posts began to re-evaluate the reason for not reading books. In this passage, Katniss begins to evaluate her role in The Hunger Games and society in itself. I would be furious at the thought of being somebody's puppet as well, and since she has been this way her whole life, no wonder why she feels this way. It is even worse for her, because the government is full of people whom she hates, yet she has to comply to any one of their demands in fear of the fact that at any moment, her rebellion could mean her demise. As she is further being interviewed in this passage, she seems to get filled with more anger, more rage, at the thoughts of her domestication in the games.
          Collins purposefully takes this passage as a way to develop the character of Katniss more. Throughout the book, we can see that Katniss begins to rebel more and more against the government, as she sees that this really is a governmental taken over society. The author uses this passage to establish pathos to further connect with the reader, since at this point of the book, the reader fully realizes the fury bottled up inside of Katniss. Unfortunately, at this interview, Katniss can't even begin to talk about the reality of the games, and automatically censors herself. If she hadn't then she would have had to suffer a grave fate. This is just another example of the censorship that Katniss has to go through, hiding the fact that The Hunger Games are barbaric, unjust, and awful, and as a result she sits there in her anger, giving answer after answer to the interview questions.
          A vision of the future such as this one prompts me to evaluate the government of the present.
Perhaps the government already has too much power, and we don't realize it. But thinking about our censorship laws, they seem plausible and our government doesn't seem to have too much power over us. From what I see as a normal citizen, most of the laws are meant to protect us. But what if that is what I am supposed to think? Maybe I have already fallen into the trap. Though, one can never really know the underlying reason for many of the government's decisions, they could as well be hiding information from us, which I am sure they are. Maybe there is a lot more to the present that we don't even know about yet. At this point, maybe I am beginning to take shape into a Guy Montag, and a Katniss Everdeen, and becoming the dystopian protagonist I mentioned in one of my earlier posts.

Phase 2: The Hunger Games

"When I was younger, I scared my mother to death, the things I would blurt out about District 12, about the people who rule our country, Panem, from the far-off city called the Capitol. Eventually I understood this would only lead us to more trouble. So I learned to hold my tongue and to turn my features into an indifferent mask so that no one could ever read my thoughts. Do my work quietly in school. Make only polite small talk in the public market...even at home, where i am less pleasant, i avoid discussing tricky topics. Like the reaping, or food shortages, or The Hunger Games. Prim might begin to repeat my words and then where would we be?" (Collins 6).

          It is a shame how Katniss feels that she has to be the head of her household, but even more a shame that she has to live her life feeling like she has been censored. In this passage Katniss explains her experience as a child when she scares her mother by talking about the rulers of District 12 from the Capitol. The mere fact that her mother was so paranoid about this is a testament to the fact that their society in District 12 is dystopian. More specifically, this is a dystopia in which the government has so much control over the citizens that they have a fear of the outside world, they conform to the uniform expectations, citizens are perceived to be under constant surveillance, and that propaganda is used to control the citizens of the society.
          The purpose of the passage is to provide a setting for the rest of the book. The beginning of the novel is used to synthesize the world that they live in. Collins uses techniques in this passage such as using specific examples and metaphors of an indifferent mask throughout the beginning sections of the book to establish the dystopian society. By the end of the first few chapters it is evident that the overall affect is has on the audience is that the society they live in especially in District 12 is one of poverty and the unfortunate lifestyle of miners who are in constant surveillance, and must conform to the norms of the expectations of government officials, or else they will suffer the same fate as the former District 13.
          In essence when we think about how this applies to us now, being human in a world that we think is not corrupt, perhaps we think that being human entitles us to our own thoughts. Since this passage seems to establish that the humans in The Hunger Games live in a dehumanized state in the Districts, being human in our current society basically means the opposite of what they are being put through. As humans we enjoy the luxury of freedom, and the depiction that Collins draws about the future, makes it seem that with all the theories of 2012 and the end of the world, that maybe instead of this being propaganda, it will soon be the fate of us humans in about a year. This does however, go back to a previous post about the God-like figure who had seen the future, and is telling people of the present to go back. Maybe the future really does hold a similar fate as it does in The Hunger Games, so we should listen to the man, and go back to the past where things seem simple, and we can live life as we have always known it to be.

2012

      A part of me will never believe that the world will end on December 21, 2012 because it seems to predicted. The world was supposed to end so many times before, on 6/6/06, or Y2K, and probably many other times in the past. What makes 2012 any different? Another part of me thinks that all these different religions have pointed to that day in grief because they all point to the same event. I also can't help but think that if the world actually does end, then my 18 years of being educated would go down the drain because it won't even matter anymore. What would someone even do with themselves during a time like that? Pray? Be with the ones they love? That seems like such a terrifying thought! It does however show that we as a human race have many problems. The issues that come up in the movie are associated with government, technology, biotechnology, inequality, religion, and war, all together. With a movie that represents so many different issues, it is hard to pin-point the one issue that the movie is centered on, but it seems to be more on the environment. 

      Many researchers believe that we are the cause of the end of the world. We have depleted the world's resources and the human race is not good at making points about conservation until its too late. The movie shows this by showing the natural disasters that unfold throughout the movie. Drastic earthquakes going through cities, volcanoes erupting to destroy entire states, water flooding the world to nothingness. It is because of our millenniums worth of damage to the world that this could possibly be happening. This depiction of the future shows that we are obviously doing something wrong in the present. Humans have always taken things that they've needed or wanted, and maybe that is our downfall. There is no evidence of giving back to mother Earth, what she has given to us. The movie uses special effects in a vivid way to portray the end of the world as a catastrophic calamity. Still, I still maintain that I don't think the world will end on December 21, 2012... it is just a play on numbers that all these other events were. 

Touch the Future!

      If technology were to be like this today, I would love waking up in the morning. Looking at a future, where touch screens can do so much as to expand in size and shape seems beyond the concepts of reality. This is one aspect of technology that I would love. It seems very personalized and convenient, which is, in fact, how we want to live our lives today. By one simple move of a finger, one will be able to change the course of their day, but how likely is it that this technology will exist in the short three years that the video says it will exist? Doesn't seem like a lot of time, and it doesn't seem like a reality. Technology still has it's ways to go, and this doesn't seem like a reachable goal in a short three years. 

      The video touches upon one touch sharing from one screen to another, and is based mostly on the convenience that having a touch screen of the sort could bring. The purpose however is to create a very user friendly, personalized product, which technology is just beginning to approach now, with inventions such as Siri on the iPhone. As far as getting these products to transcend the ideas of physics and be able to extend the screen in such a way does seem far fetched. This kind of future, does make humans seem widely technology based. We use technology every step of the way today, and it has become who we are. Where would we be without our iPhones, and computers? Even so, a development like this does portray the present as progressing, maybe not as fast as we want to progress, but still progressing. 

Wall-E

      When watching a movie like Wall-E I seem to have gotten lost in the cuteness of the movie to originally seeing the underlying theme of the movie. In Wall-E, Earth was uninhabited, and instead was filled with robots like Wall-E who were there solely to compact all the trash that was left there. I thought that aspect of the movie was really sad. Until Wall-E found the boot with the last ounce of life on Earth. This brings up the environmental issue associated with the future in Wall-E. Why is there only one trace of life on Earth? What happened to Earth? Why aren't there any people? Not until later that the viewer discovers everybody had become obese and lived on hover chairs that complied to their every need which is a problem in itself. With this, it seems that the purpose of the work is to show what kind of corrupt society that we could begin if we continue with our habits now. Humans are always seen as lazy, and it is because of that lazy quality that we will become like the citizens on their chairs all day. 

      Wall-E shows that humans in the present are very interested in being lazy. It seems as though humans seem so overworked in the present that in the future, all they want to do is be lazy and enjoy the luxury that people normally get to enjoy after they retire. Of course the movie shows the flaw in humans and our constant desire to have things be easier, but it does however depict humans as ones to work hard now and play hard later. Wall-E is good at giving the example of an imperfect society to make the viewer think about contrasting the movie and making that contrast a reality. 

Rich get Richer

      How funny does this scene look? I know one thing is for sure, I want to be the man with the wheel barrel full of money, and not one of the people dangling over a cliff on a plank. Though, as I examine the picture longer, I notice how corrupt the picture actually is. It shows me that the rich only get richer, while those who are not rich are thrown over a cliff, to fall. As one can tell by looking at the purpose of the work, it is clearly seen that it is to show inequality among social groups. By looking at the expressions of the people in the work, the rich man has a huge smile on his face showing that the rich will always go away happy, while the people who are not rich, have to work many times harder, while having to deal with less than preferable situations. 

      This obvious scenario is something we face everyday. It is almost like a snowball effect, when one gets wealthy, the wealth steadily keeps coming. Unfortunately, it leaves no room for the lower classes to climb the ranks and grow. In essence it seems that the quality of life that you live depends on the social group you are born into. There is no doubt that this is a flaw in our society in the present that needs to be corrected. If the future ends up the way it is portrayed in the picture, than what will the people hanging over the cliff have to face? Something needs to be done to save the people from falling over the cliff, whether it be through taxes on the rich, there must be a way to regulate the money to stimulate the economy. The inequality among citizens in the economy is not regulated enough, that is the purpose that the artist is trying to get across to audiences, so we can find ways to fix it. Just how to fix it is the question. 

The Antichrist

The Antichrist


in the future on a date God only does know
war shall erupt in heaven and Michael shall throw
satan to the earth, as an angel does cry, 'Woe! '
the devil shall play Christ, he deceiving many

the antichrist will seemingly miracles do
will set up his government to worship him too
the people will believe he is Christ through and through
believers, God wonders, if there be left any? 




     In this poem on the Antichrist, the writer presents a vision of the future which is dark and grim. This touches on the issue of religion and that people seem to blindly follow it at times. Personally it seems like a scary future to be in, almost like there is a higher being trying to test people to see if they will be deceived or not. Also since I am not very knowledgeable in the aspect of God, I also wonder what would happen if the so-called Antichrist approached the people who are atheist, or believe in a different God. I'm sure that in any case, there will definitely be people left, not all are abiding citizens, and not all follow God. I feel that if there were to be some God-like figure, the "real" god or an Antichrist trying to pose as a real God, I wouldn't take the opportunity to follow him. 
      This depiction of the future seems to go with the idea that people are almost too religious. People seem to worship this God wholeheartedly, but what if that God were to be sent to Earth? How would people react? The writer uses such lines as "the devil shall play Christ, he deceiving many" to show that people are indeed gullible especially when it comes to discovering about things that they believe in. The poem does indeed bring up the question of what it means to be human. Why are we put on Earth in the first place. In writing this, the writer also creates an apocalyptic image of a world where humans are all deceived and led to their own doom-- at least that is how I see it. 

Librember

"I hope I've clarified things. The important thing for you to remember, Montag, is we're the Happiness Boys, the Dixie Duo, you and I and the others. We stand against the small tide of those who want to make everyone unhappy with conflicting theory and thought. We have our fingers in the dike. Hold steady. Don't let the torrent of melancholy and drear philosophy drown our world. We depend on you. I don't think you realize how important you are, to our happy world as it stands now."


- Beatty

       How does one deal with a world where it seems as though the government is against them? Well in all actuality most people would conform to the government's wants and needs in order to survive and try to fit the ideal citizen's role. That is exactly what occurs in the dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451, where books are illegal for citizens to own. Why books? Why the restriction? I would feel completely awed at such crazy activity as to burn books because they are illegal. As Beatty is the figurehead that represents the dystopian society in the book, you can tell how he is trying to brainwash the main character Guy, that he is a part of something greater. Beatty, an advocate of the government tries to confuse Guy into thinking that books "make people unhappy with conflicting theory and thought." I personally think that Beatty is afraid of competition, since throughout the book he seems to have such knowledge about books, that the thought of somebody else knowing the power that books can bring scares him. Therefore, Beatty is trying to eliminate the competition. 

       Bradbury uses many techniques to highlight the point that he is trying to bring out about censorship and knowledge. For one, he develops many characters such as Beatty throughout the book to foil Guy. In this way he shows the contrast of certain characters to let the reader find out who Guy really is. Though the work as a whole makes me understand that humans are so caught up in trying to be "perfect" that they will abide to any rule sometimes to make them seem so. This quote is a perfect example of how the work is trying to manipulate citizen's minds. Don't read books because they're confusing and are thought provoking, just go on thinking that you know everything and that everything is okay. In reality that is what makes being human so perfect is that we're imperfect. 

      Although I maintain that I don't enjoy reading books as much as any other person, they are a very essential part to the way we live life today. Never will I underestimate the power of a book especially after reading a novel such as this. 

Oh! They're after US!

          The photo above from the popular video game Halo Wars, portrays a horrific future in which humans are far beyond war with each other, but in war with creatures from other planets. Although this idea is far off, and quite possibly imaginary, it provokes thoughts that makes one imagine a future where Earth's resources really are depleted and force us to go else-where to discovery other forms of survival. I personally think it is scary to think about a home away from home. When seeing films or video games portraying what the future could be like, makes me think of how advanced other beings could be out there. How behind are humans since we are in reality a primitive species. 

          It seems as though the purpose of the work is to target that humans may be in danger. By showing the dreary destructed background shows a future of chaos. The work achieves this purpose through dark colors and  making the scene look messy. Seeing the soldier in a position, running away from the beast in the background creates a sense of urgency as well, because the beast seems to be advanced in technology with the weapons in its hands. This does however reveal that the present is possibly spiraling downwards. Potentially showing that humans are over-using the resources of mother earth, and may eventually have to move elsewhere, thus having to deal with other species in the galaxy. It does also make people's minds go haywire at the thought that we may one day be running away from such creatures. Maybe their planets will be ones that deplete their resources faster than we do, and in turn they might come to Earth. How quickly I begin to think of the universe as a whole when I think about what else is out there in the galaxy. 

Is it... flying?

http://thisiscolossal.com/2011/10/quantum-levitation/

      Wow! When my eyes laid upon this video, I was shocked. Levitation, something that has been attempted by magicians, something that we associate with cars in the future, an act that I wish I could do. Among the explanation in the back, the narrator of the video explains something along the lines of magnetism. He calls it quantum locking/trapping, that keeps the item locked in the magnetic field since it is so cold. It makes me ponder the idea of making a cool magnetic suit that somehow keeps us warm while keeping the suit cold and being able to transport ourselves from place to place via hovering. How cool would that be?! This video would be an example of the technology of the future. Although it is a discovery of the present, I felt the video was appropriate because it shows where the future can be. Even though this is not a video that depicts the future, it deals with a technology problem. 

       The purpose of the work, is essentially to show off the strides that quantum mechanics has made. They use a variety of examples of magnets to show off this new idea of quantum locking. In essence this blog would be a backwards blog, this is an example of the present revealing features of the future. Questions come abound as to how this concept can be put to a bigger scale though. How could this idea be put to actual use? Can people use them to levitate? Can we transport items using this method perhaps? Would air traffic be more busy? Would everybody have access to have the ability to levitate? It all goes back to wondering how the idea would be put to use. The many questions that come about definitely put this in a work in progress category. There are many ideas to be made, failed, failed again, and eventually succeeded. Hopefully we will see this physics sometime in the near future with items that we can actually use. 

Self Driving Car?!

      The picture shown above is one of the self driving car that was produced by Google. It is one of the major developments of our age moving into advanced technology, which is precisely what this is focused on. Personally, I think it is pretty amazing to be able to sit in a car and have it drive you wherever you want to go safely, but how safe can it be? Being guided by just a set of eyes called cameras and GPS signals, is almost unheard of. What if there were to be car accidents by some chance? Who would be blamed? Who would be at fault for the accident? There are a great number of what-ifs that come with unsolvable questions. It is clear that the idea is just in a beta testing phase, but imagine if the idea could be come fool-proof? I would enjoy sitting in my car, maybe watching a movie, eating a snack while on the way to my destination-- that is the life.
      Another thing that comes to mind is what direction a technology like this would point to. It shows that humans are into luxury, and that we are indeed lazy. Although one could say that humans "work hard and play hard" I guess it would apply in this case, because humans would work hard to create a product, and play hard by enjoying the fruits of their labor. The labeled diagram does show the details of the car which does put things into prospective. Obviously humans have come a long way and having things such as radars, lidars, position estimators and video cameras, give us the ability to change the methods that we have used for centuries. These ideas are pretty far-reaching, but having these ideas already in the testing phase show how far human-kind has come. But one thing is for sure, if a self-driving car ever pulled up to me... I would be pretty freaked out.

Go Back!

            The simple picture shown above features an example of all of the types of issues the future may face. However, the picture does not target any of the issues specifically. Whether it be environmental, war, inequality problems, the picture tells me that the future may not be as bright as we want it to be. Some may take this picture as comical-- a white robed figure, old and senile, probably not taken seriously is outrageously saying that he has seen the future. I know if I were to see such a thing in real life, I would be taken back by such preposterous activity. At the same time, seeing all the happenings in the background of the picture portraying the present makes me feel like where the world has been in the past has been a good place. I've personally enjoyed living in a city with the bustling of car engines, and the nurturing of many children, and the basic down to earth feeling that people just love so much.
           It is obvious the cartoonist's motive in creating this picture. It comes down to the fact that humans always want more. It reveals that we are never content where we are and we will always continue to prosper, grow, and advance. The technique the cartoonist uses would be something along the lines of propaganda because the picture shows a man who was obviously unhappy with his findings in the so called "future" he has been to. Still, the work still gives me the feeling that we do not appreciate where we are now, and makes me re-evaluate my thoughts of being a human and where I want the human race to go.

Eureka!

The clip from Eureka, features a bizarre opening that one can tell is from the future. It is commonly associated that holographs are a thing of the future, and thus this show is the show of the future. Opening the show with a funeral showing a holograph of the dead people is definitely an advanced characteristic of the future. Another notable object of this futuristic show was the “Omni Universal Remote” that the man was using to control “everything.” Oh yes, there are such things as those now, but can they really control everything like the show says it does—things like a car and more advanced technology? How amazing would that be, to be able to sit in one spot and control everything? People would definitely end up getting fatter and not to mention lazier. The biggest part of all was this home of the future, the Smart House, as they called it. Now this is something I would love to accompany me in the future. Imagine a house can read your mind, and tend to every single thing you might want. You want to wake up to some type of alarm at a certain volume? No problem, the house will just read your mind, and wake you up just the way you want.

            There is no doubt that this show deals with the technological aspect of the future. Maybe one of the many problems that we are trying to deal with in technology is trying to make things user friendly, and as convenient as possible. There is nothing more convenient than a universal remote, or a house that does everything for you. This does however reveal one of our human flaws (if you will) which is that humans always want the easier ways out. How can we make things easier for everybody using technology? How can we make things that people don’t have to think about to use? It is absolutely one of our human flaws today because we rely so heavily on technology. Thusly, many people often imagine a future of obesity, and convenience because both go hand in hand.

            Personally, I would be one of those fat obese people, because I would love to have a personal house, as well as a universal remote… how awesome would that be?

Future: Life at Home

 

          The picture above properly named, Vintage Visions of the Future, depicts lifeforms in two spaceships that have successfully landed on the moon in view of the Earth. As the larger rocket seems to feature only a ladder to let humans get down, the smaller ship shows two pilots at the front showing that human life may migrate to another planet. This picture could possibly connect to Environmental issues in the future, but it definitely shows the advanced technology in store. Personally, I think it would be cool to live on the moon, or another planet in general. As scary as it would be, the experience would be literally unworldly. Unfortunately, not knowing whether there will be resources enough to sustain the human race would be quite a set-back. Humans would only have enough resources to sustain themselves for so long on another planet. Either way, it would be widely interesting to think about living in the future without an Earth beneath us. 

          To see the author's purpose, one would begin to question how a place like the moon (as depicted in the picture) would be enough for humans to immigrate to. It would be difficult for humans to adapt to a place portrayed in the picture, where it would be full of space rocks and matter, as a opposed to the rich Earth that we live on now. It is undeniable that the environmental issues that arise through this picture deal with a deficiency in natural resources. Eventually, the world may run out, and force us to resort to immigration to another planet. Additionally, it shows how advanced we can possibly get, looking at the mere fact that we will be able to transport people to foreign places. Surely there must be a limit though, how many people would be permitted to go? Would only the most important take priority over those who are mere citizens? How quickly one's mind can reach a dark place, imagining a future where people are fighting to get off of the planet. 

          At any rate, I still think it would be pretty awesome to be able to travel in space. It would be a childhood dream coming to reality.