As graduation approaches, this quarter in humanities, we have been focusing strongly on creating a future for ourselves. We explored questions on our futures and how to pursue the things we love. We learned how to sustain and be a citizen of this world. Exploring the idea of sustainability,many students in class have started their presentation on their ted speaker. One idea that really captured my mind was Kimmy’s speaker, Bill Gates, on the new innovations of improving energy efficiency.
In her Ted talks presentation she presented many new ideas in improving energy efficiency. What thought was very interesting was how the Carbon emission crisis was explained in one simple equation. Carbon emission= People x Energy x Efficiency x Carbon output. This simple equation explained this process simpler than words. If we bring down one of these variables to zero we will be able to eliminate all Carbon emissions.
Connecting to Ashley’s Ted presentation, the speaker said all the materials we need to obtain clean sustainability was all on earth it was a matter of accessibility. I believe this statement is very true. For clean water to the energy and carbon emission process we have all the materials needed to fix these problems. Seventy percent of earth is covered with water and millions of kilowatts of energy hit the earth's surface more than we use. It is the problem of accessibility, being able to convert saltwater to freshwater and obtaining the energy given from the sun that is the core to all our problems.
In the next few decades we must ponder on how to better access the resources on our planet. We must learn to access these resources in a better more efficient way if we are to sustain the human race. It is not the problem of insufficient resources but the problem of accessibility.
Before
I started the mash- up I brained stormed about the word “solitude.” I pondered
about what solitude meant to me and what I believed it meant. Solitude can be easily defined by a couple of
words from Webster’s Dictionary but I wanted to truly think about what it meant
to be in solitude and what you gained from it.
For
this project, I tried to think about famous historical figures who demonstrated
solitude. One person that stood out was Henry David Thoreau. I thought about is life experience in
solitude. Henry David Thoreau wanted to become one with nature and truly mediated
on his life experience. Doing this helped him reach his inner self and learn
knowledge he would have never obtained. He was able to reach a new level of
thinking. During solitude you are not alone; rather your inner self is your
companion.
My
thinking is very unorganized and chaotic. In order to achieve a better
understanding of solitude, I made an outline of my views on solitude and other people’s
views of solitude. My first impression of solitude was thinking that when you
are in solitude you are along but the truth is that you are never alone. You
have yourself and nature. Making an outline of quotes and visuals it was easier
for me to understand what the true meaning of solitude was.
What I like
about my thinking is that I can obtain new ideas very quickly. If one idea pops
into my head I would try to incorporate that into the mash-up. For example,
when I was searching for some audio/ visual symbols to better understand
solitude instead of using a video clip, I thought music would work the best. I
picked the song Solitude is Bliss. Cause it describes some of natural meanings
of that word. This song explains how solitude can bring happiness and can provide
this happiness. Trying to be in solitude can help you find your inner self and
bring you one step closer in pursuing your happiness.
Thursday, April 18, 2013
Solitude: The Search of your inner self.
1.
2. Psychology of Solitude "Loneliness is a negative state, marked by a sense of isolation. One feels that something is missing. It is possible to be with people and still feel lonely—perhaps the most bitter form of loneliness.Solitude is the state of being alone without being lonely. It is a positive and constructive state of engagement with oneself. Solitude is desirable, a state of being alone where you provide yourself wonderful and sufficient company."
3. You get the most when in solitude. To be in solitude it means to be in complete loneliness and quiet. The state of solitude is being alone with a positive out look. It creates a state where the body is thinking more creatively. It is a state of mind where you provide yourself wonderful company.
4.“He both loved and feared
solitude, he often wanted to escape from it, but it was thenecessary condition
for his poetry. The monk and the lover inside him, each a powerful and
conflicting presence, were never able to merge”
5."We know little, but that we must
trust in what is difficult is a certainty that will never abandon us; it is
good to be solitary, for solitude is difficult; that something is difficult
must be one more reason for us to do it"
6. Solitude is something people fear and is difficult to obtain. Especially in today's society with the advancement of social media, it is almost impossible to be in solitude. Where ever you are in the world you will almost never be alone. Because of this advancement, it is especially important to obtain solitude. Having a chance to take a breath and meditate and loaf is important for a person to learn about themselves and the world.
7."Always trustyourselfand your own feelings, as opposed
to argumentation discussions, or introductions of that sort; if it turns out
that you are wrong then the natural growth of your inner life will eventually
guide you to other insights" .
8. "And you should not let yourself be confused in your solitude by the fact that there is something in you that wants to move out of it"
9. When practicing and trying to obtain solitude one must always trust and seek out their inner self. They must try to obtain peace and harmony with them and nature. Being at peace and not having any distractions to the world is the only way to reach solitude.You must trust your self and if it turns wrong then the natural growth of your inner life will eventually guide your to sight.
10. To sit on rocks, to muse o'er flood and fell,
To slowly trace the forest's shady scene, Where things that own not man's dominion dwell, And mortal foot hath ne'er or rarely been; To climb the trackless mountain all unseen, With the wild flock that never needs a fold; Alone o'er steeps and foaming falls to lean; This is not solitude, 'tis but to hold Converse with Nature's charms, and view her stores unrolled.
But midst the crowd, the hurry, the shock of men, To hear, to see, to feel and to possess, And roam alone, the world's tired denizen, With none who bless us, none whom we can bless; Minions of splendour shrinking from distress! None that, with kindred consciousness endued, If we were not, would seem to smile the less Of all the flattered, followed, sought and sued; This is to be alone; this, this is solitude!
11. Hah! I say. There's no importance whatsoever. I'm just doing it for the fun of it." His reaction didn't discourage me; I had made up my mind I was going to enjoy physics and do whatever I liked.
12.
13. You are a practical man, Michele. Einstein gazes at the clouds thinking of his project. He wants to tell Besso about his dreams, but cannot bring himself to do it. I think you will succeed with your theory of time...
14.When in solitude you can find many things about oneself. You will be able to find your passion, and dreams. In solitude it will give the opportunity to critically reflect your past, present, and future life. In solitude you are never alone because you are with you whole self. Your companion is solitude, and this companion will help you find many things about your life you have not known about.
15. "What is necessary, after all,
is only this: solitude, vast inner solitude. To walk inside yourself and meet
no one for hours- that is what you must be able to attain. To be solitary as
you were when you were a child, when the grownups walked around involved with
matters that seemed large and important because they looked so busy
and because you didn't understand a thing about what they were doing" -
Rilke 55
16. And to speak of solitude again, it becomes clearer and clearer that fundamentally this is nothing that one can choose or refrain from. We are solitary. We can delude ourselves about this and act as if it were not true. That is all. But how much better it is to recognize that we are alone; yes, even to begin from this realization.
17. “Families are designed to be the social antidote to
solitude, so to learn to search for signs of loneliness inside a family goes
against our instincts” (Wiggins 156)
18. Solitude is a path to inner self. To have that playful mind and loaf will help you achieve peace and harmony. You must be solitary like you are a child. When there are distractions large or small you must be a "child" and go along your own business.
19. Language... has
created the word "loneliness" to express the pain of being
alone. And it has created the word "solitude" to express the
glory of being alone" ~Paul Johannes Tillich, The Eternal
Now
Works Cited
1. Tame Impala. "Solitude Is Bliss." Innerspeaker. 2013. YouTube. 17 April 2013. Web.
2. Marano, Hara Estroff. "What Is Solitude?" Psychology Today. Web.
3. Reflection
4. Rilke, Rainer Maria. (Xiii)
5. Rilke, Rainer Maria. (68)
6. Reflection
7. Rilke, Rainer Maria. (23)
8.Rilke, Rainer Maria. (67)
9. Reflection
10. Byron , George Lord Gordon. Solitude.
11.Feynman, Richard, Creativity
12. Brainy Quote Henry David Thoreau
13. Lightman, Alan P. Einstein's Dreams. New York: Pantheon, 1993. Print.(114)
This
week in class we learned about creating beauty. Last semester was more
concentrated on appreciating and learning about beauty. Now we have started to
learn how to create our own beauty using the rules of creativity. In order to
gain some inspiration for our architecture project, we watched a film on Frank
Gehry. Frank Gehry is a post modern architect. It was very interesting to learn
his process when creating these gigantic beautiful buildings. He made his
architecture on the spot and he made it look very easy, and fluid. One thing
that struck me hard was that when one of his fellow colleagues said that the
reason why Frank Gehry was so talented was because he understood light. He used
natural light to emphasis his work and make it stand out. He used light as a
building material. Hearing this, I planned to use similar techniques using
light to make our architecture building stand out.
This
whole week I was very busy with the GBS Variety Show. Watching the Variety show
numerous amounts of time, one thing I noticed was the lights. The light show
and the time and effort put on the lights were incredible. When you look up at
the ceiling of the auditorium, u can see dozens of lights. There are spot
lights, lasers, colored lights, etc. Thousands of dollars are spent in order to
rent these lights. Without the lights, the show look very bland and dull. The
lights are what make our variety show different from all the others. The different
types of lights give the mood, and emphasize the each individual act. Light is
one of the most important prop in order to create incredible beauty.
Understanding
light and manipulating, is what differentiates good quality art from the mediocre.
Frank Gehry and Richard Winship, who was designed all the lights, are very
similar. They understand the importance of light when creating artwork. The Variety
show would not be the same if it weren’t for the lights. Many of Frank Gehry’s
buildings would not be as great if it weren't for him understanding the
importance of light. Many artists use light to create incredible beauty. Like
Frank Gehry and Richard Winship I must incorporate light into my building.
Understanding how light bounces off figures or illuminates certain part is what
makes some art even more beautiful. Using light is what differentiates our building
from other groups work.
Kimmy, I completely agree to what you are saying. Before I
took the class, I had no idea what Postmodernism and modernism meant. I did not
know what does concepts were. By learning about these concepts I was able to
incorporate it in my daily life. I had no idea Postmodernism and Modernism was
everywhere. The movie Devils Wear Prada
is just a small example of how these ideas are incorporated everywhere. If you
just take the time to look and learn these concepts it will help you understand
and appreciate the beauties in life.
Best of the Week: Thinking Philosophically
Ariella, I think what you wrote about was very unique and interesting.
It was really cool how you made a connection with what we learned in class to Sophie’s World. I loved your quote from the book and how you
incorporated it to our class. “Wisest is she who knows she does not know.” This statement truly
opened up my eyes and allowed me to be content with that which I do not know. I
too am now more aware of my surroundings. I realized the importance of
questioning and thinking philosophically. The one thing we must do is question.
This week in class we started to
learn about the difference between modernism and postmodernism. During the 1850
to 1945 many people thought and tried to express their “inner self”. The
believed they must turn inward to find meaning. Modernist composers like Theodor
Adorno and artist like Pablo Picasso tried to encourage new thinking. After 1945 the postmodernist developed a new
way of thinking and reinvent many of the arts. The postmodernist believed the
world was more multifaceted and believed in complex network of networks. Artist
and composers in this era thought in the idea of no absolute truth. Philip Glass,
a well known modern composer, demonstrates this form of thinking. In this
piece, “Einstein on the Beach”, it really gets to the fundamentals of postmodernism.
The beginning of the piece starts
out with a synthesizer playing all alone. Then a choir of voices is added into
the lonely synthesizer. They sing a mellow “1234..”. Then a narrator joins the
duet making it a trio. The trio goes on for a couple minutes having a
conversation. All of a sudden, a violin joins the trio and mans booming voice
joins, making it a quartet then a quintet. At this point there are so many parts
going on at the same time it is hard to understand and listen to it individually.
The beauty of this piece is the complex nature of it. Individually the parts
are very simple. It is a synthesizer holding only a couple notes, a violin
doing arpeggios, a woman talking, a choir singing “1234…”, but all together it
is a complex network of networks. It is too complex to listen to the parts individually,
as a whole it becomes breath taking music. He emphasizes the importance of
harmony and counterpoints. This piece of music shows a more innovative side of
creating music. It is not the classic people hear every day.
When I first listened to this piece
by Phillip glass I thought it was very creative. He put together very simple
parts into something very complex and beautiful. They were bits and pieces put together to
present a whole. Instead of having a concrete melody, they were mostly
harmonies supporting each other and having a conversation. Because of the
supporting roles of all the parts in the piece, is what I admired most about
the piece. It was not like the everyday songs you hear on the radio. The
gradual change of the song from a solo to a duet, to a trio, and on and on is
what I thought was very pleasing.
I think this piece can be a metaphor
to our current society. Our society today has become very complex. From out ancestors
of hunter gathers, there are many new inventions and we have come a long way. Every
day we go along our simply life, like going to work or school, but this simple
action creates a very complex society. The individual parts in this piece are
very simple, but it creates a very complex whole. “Einstein on the Beach” is a
very creative piece of artwork. I enjoy this piece very much, and it is not like
anything I have heard. The beauty comes from the complex nature of the music.
Last week when we were reading the “Letter
from Birmingham jail” by Martin Luther King Jr. we discussed about the
importance of standing up to the status quo. So what does it mean to stand up
to the status quo? Being able to resist the status quo means that you are going
against the existing state of affairs and social norms. In society there is a
social norm of rules to live and how to act. Martin Luther King was someone who
resisted the status quo and fought for what was right. While many others lived
in fear of breaking the status quo, he put his life on the line and was
prepared to face all of the consequences to fight for civil rights. He was
tenacious in fighting for his end goal.
Someone who is a lot like Martin
Luther King is Nikola Tesla. Nikola Tesla was an electrical engineer and a futurist
whose design contributed to the electrical system. Nikola Tesla worked for Thomas Edison in his
early years. When designing his machines he was often shunned and thought of as
a “mad scientist” because of his crazy ideas of electricity. His colleagues
believed his inventions were not possible and crazy. Nikola Tesla is someone
who stepped out of the status quo and explored the outer boundaries of science.
Like MLK Jr. He was very tenacious and didn’t care on what people thought. By
stepping out of the boundaries that the science community thought was unrealistic,
he was able to invent the radio, magnetic fields, and AC motors.
By learning about these two
incredible people, and how they resisted and stood up to the status quo, it
shows the importance of dreams. Because of MLK Jr. believed all people should
be equal and Tesla believed in his ludicrous ideas, they were able to change
the world we live in. No matter what society thinks of you, it is important to
stand up and fight for what you believe in. MLK and Tesla were both very tenacious
people. When they failed, they tried and tried again until they achieved and
got there end goals. People must learn from people like Tesla and MLK Jr. and
really admire their fearlessness to resist the status quo and be tenacious. As I
approach the” real adult world” I must keep in mind the examples set by these
two men. If I feel like something is morally wrong I must stand and do what is
right. If fear and the status quo keep me from achieving greatness I must look
at Tesla. Men like them are the revolutionaries who change the world.
