Week 5

Week 5

1. “Flame On” – My first impression of the video was that it starts off as a propaganda piece that looked like it was put together in the age of conservatism like the 1950s and the “Leave It To Beaver” era. It then started taking a sarcastic turn when it began to show very notable and respected people in different professions like philosophers and writers like Walt Whitman—people whose talents cannot be denied.

I also liked the way the film ended by using the quote that “truth is not part of the proceedings.” And I think that that is something that gets lost in the midst of a lot of things. A lot of times people focus on people’s characteristics or personal lives instead of their accomplishments. Following the saying about truth with a list of notable homosexuals is a reminder that a person’s sexuality doesn’t hinder or enhance a person’s value.
2. “The Myth of Eternal Recurrence” – The eternal hourglass of existence will be turned again and again and again and you will be a part of it. I think this video is speaking for advancement and against redundancy. Life being redundant and being lived the same over and over will be boring and we will remain stagnant.

I think that is why the film was broken into two parts. The first part consisted of the same images over and over—things that are familiar. The video then ends with undiscovered frontiers—Mars, Earth, and space. Although we already know a little about them, there are untapped sources that still need to be discovered. There is a lif of progress and advancement.
3. In Nietzsche’s essay, he attempts to race back the origins of morals and human morality. Morals and values vary from culture to culture and even from person to person. I think a big part of that depends on a person’s upbringing.

Nietzsche brings up a good point that one event can shape our future morals. However, I feel that that might be making every single event too significant. Growing up, we all mess up and misbehave and do little things that get us in to trouble. I feel that instead of it being every single event that shape our future morals, it can be a series of events that make up one big realization or epiphany that shapes our future moral code.
4. Gandhi has always been one of the people I have always wanted to learn more about. Prior to my reading, I knew very little about him. I knew he preached love and nonviolence and protested with a hunger strike. It is his way of living and reacting nonviolently that makes him so admired. The quote that resonates Gandhi the most in my opinion is “An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.”

Reading nonfiction, biographies, and autobiographies has always been interesting to me and inspiring. Most people that have contributed to society and inspired people to do remarkable things all have a remarkable story. They have dealt with some sort of major crisis in their life and were able to do what they did in large part because of those hardships. Going back to Nietzsche’s future moral code, has shaped them to who they are.
5. Watching the video about turning vegetarian was a bit hard to do. This goes back to another week’s readings that addressed us being the supreme being on earth and that we don’t eat other humans because we know what kind of pain a human goes through. We go on eating animals like cows, chickens, etc. because we cannot relate to what it’s like to feel pain like they do.

This changes that because it shows animals suffer. It’s like some PETA videos I’ve seen where they show how animals are killed for furs. It also reminds me of “Fast Food Nation” and “Super Size Me” where the film is eye-opening and has a big effect on the viewer due to the nature of the subject matter.