Discussion WK 5

DISC WK 5
Philosophy in Less Then Five Minutes: Films 1-5
“The Myth of Eternal Recurrence” was about how life would be if we would have to live and experience everything over and over again. It was interesting because it should a life from conception and all that a person would experience. He then asked the question “would you want this?” I would have to say no, I wouldn’t want to live the same way, experiences, life over and over again. Who would learn, or grow from something like that. It would be exciting at first but then it would get very boring and routine. No one can learn anything new from routine.
“The Zahir” started out with a quote that stated “Zahir stands for beings or things which have the terrible power to be unforgettable, and whose image eventually drives people mad”. In the movies it starts with a man saying that a coin that he got as change was Zahir. But from what I could understand Zahir is anything that invade a persons mind and cause them to get a little obsessed. Towards the end the man says that maybe if he were to continue to think of this coin it would eventually disappear form his mind. With Zahir it is believed that repeating it name would cause the object to lose all meaning. If that is the case then his obsession would soon fade.
“Little Things That Jiggle” was definitely something different. It was about how things are to able to be because of science. There were quotes that went rather quickly but were interesting to read. One stated that “gravity is geometry realized and astrology is Genesis rewritten”. Basically this film states that everything has its explanation and that is possible through the aid of science. It was a little hard to understand at first but I realized that everything has a scientific foundation that allows us to better understand things.
“A Glorious Piece of Meat” was about the brain and how it controls everything. There were questions raised about who really controls our actions. Do we “I” control or is it the brain that is in control? Through this film I was reminded that it is not just “I” that is in controls of my functions but my brain that does majority of the work. It was interesting because sometimes, no most of the time we forget about how much wok the brain actually does. The brain as the film points out is not just a piece of meat it is a glorious one.
“Survival of the sufficient, Darwin Redone” was about how it is not the fittest who survives but the sufficient. The first part of the film talks about how we are all edited, we are otherwise modified versions of our elders. This film states that we are constantly being edited and that we are “volumes, but there is never a final addition”. I believe he is so right through the experiences of our selves and loved one most of us learn not to repeat. With exposure to diseases we build up resistance. It is a never ending process that is for the better of all.