An Exceptionally Deep Reflection (3)

I WAS RIGHT. Sort of. I had to read ahead and figure out what the deal was with all this crazy insanity that we all know as the novel "Sophie's World".


Turns out that this Albert guy is the cause of everything strange, and this entire world that Sophie and Alberto are living in is his creation, which has been made as a present for his daughter. Holy crap.


This is a very interesting twist. I'm actually surprised as to how much I like this.

A Connection to the Real World! (2)

So I'm really not a fan of video games at all, but all this talk about parallel realities and evil geniuses got me really interested. I was on the internet the other day and found the preview for a video game called Silent Hill: Downpour. A little dig helped me find the entire series, and eventually the original game in this perpetual series, entitled Silent Hill, in which the plot caught my eye.


The video game tells the story of Harry Mason, who crashes his car after swerving off the road to avoid a girl. When he wakes up, his daughter is missing. Upon investigation, he learns he is in a town called Silent Hill. Later in the story, we learn that the city itself is a portal to the "Otherworld", which is filled with demons and monsters. Throughout the rest of the plot, Mason has to save Silent Hill from this parallel universe.


This really got me thinking. Is it possible that there are places like this in the real world? Is it possible that certain cities or places on the planet are portals, or gateways to another dimension? If so, what effects could that have on our lives today if these gateways were discovered?

An Exceptionally Deep Reflection (2)

So things are getting weird in "Sophie's World". Like seriously, messed up. This girl, Hilde, is now becoming a main focus in the story. Impossible things have started to happen (the mirror winking, Hermes telling Sophie "Happy Birthday!", etc.), and Albert Knag is beginning to seem more and more like a god.


So what's the explanation for all this? I'm honestly not sure, but I like the idea of parallel realities. So far, that seems to be the only thing that makes sense. Maybe Sophie is Hilde in a different reality? Could there be some way that Albert Knag's communication with Sophie and Alberto is just a father trying to get into contact with his estranged daughter?


OR (this is where things get crazy):


Maybe Albert Knag is god. Or at least, the god of Sophie and Alberto's reality. Referencing Descartes and his theories of doubt, could Albert Knag be the Evil Genius of the world?


Only time will tell.

A Connection to the Real World! (1)

In this post, we'll examine one of my favorite films of all time.


SPOILER ALERTS:
We'll be looking at the film "Fight Club", a film which is known for being jam-packed with many different philosophies.


Philosophy #1: As the film reaches its climax, our narrator (Jack) is forced to separate what is real, and what is a figment of his imagination. Up until this point in the film, Jack has no idea of Tyler's true self. He is blissfully unaware that Tyler is merely a dissociation of himself. Once he finds out, however, he starts doubting his ability to perceive the world around him. What is real? What is, like Tyler, just a figment of his imagination? Other questions much like this plague the film from beginning to end.


Philosophy #2: More so in the book/script than in the film itself, Jack is portrayed as an ambiguous, mundane individual. In the story, he has not yet answered (or even thought about) THE BIG QUESTIONS. He would fall under the category of those who are too comfortable to wonder (see the previous post for more on this topic). Soon, however, he meets Tyler Durden, who flips Jack's world upside down when he blows up Jack's apartment. Jack then moves in with Tyler, setting in motion Jack's philosophically violent quest to find his true self, even when things get ugly (and believe me, they do).

An Exceptionally Deep Reflection (1)

Both in class and in the novel "Sophie's World", we discussed a metaphor that effectively split up the entire race into three groups. Our unknown teacher in the novel compares the entire world to fleas in the fur of an animal.


These three aforementioned groups are:
1. Those nestled deep in the fur of the animal, too comfortable to ask THE BIG QUESTIONS (a fair percentage of the population).
2. Those on the outskirts of the fur, still excited about the world that they are learning (children).
3. Those who have escaped, wanting answers to THE BIG QUESTIONS (philosophers).


I like this metaphor a lot. I like how we're able to visualize a detailed (albeit strange) scenario that adequately splits up the entire human race. In some ways, it almost reminds me of the class division that is, and has been, a major theme in film and literature (think H.G. Wells' "The Time Machine"). Obviously, Wells' novel is a much more extreme division of class then what is illustrated by our metaphor, but hopefully you get the idea.

GOOD MORNING EVERYBODY!

Welcome to my blog. My name is Ryan. Here I'll be posting things on Honors Philosophy (a class I take at school), which include long, rambling posts about things of the philosophical variety, responses to the reading we're assigned, as well as some connections to the real world.


Hope you enjoy!