Watch the following short video in which Margaret Atwood explores the question, "Why do we tell stories?":
Some interesting ideas:
- Atwood implies that early humans with narrative abilities and the ability to comprehend stories had an evolutionary advantage over their peers.
- "We are thought-feeling entities."
- "We are a very creative species."
- "In fact, some people who have done studies on it say that if you remove the emotion from the person through some accident, they have a lot of trouble making decisions because they try to reason everything out and you actually can't. It's endless."
- Brutus!
Post your thoughts and feelings regarding in idea or idea posted to this video in the comment section below.
Your response must include a specific reference to at least one thing Atwood says in the video, followed by your thoughts and analysis.
Responses must be posted before class (Friday, April 24th); late post, no credit.
Atwood says, "In fact, some people who have done studies on it say that if you remove the emotion from the person through some accident, they have a lot of trouble making decisions because they try to reason everything out and you actually can't. It's endless." It reminded me of one source I used for the most recent essay, which read “To act against human nature by not allowing reason to rule the emotions--was to descend to the level of the beasts.” These two statements contradict each other. Atwood says that it is impossible to make decisions without emotion and the corresponding author says that it is necessary to do so in order to act accordingly to human nature. It is interesting to me because Atwood’s claim Is backed by science while the other author’s claim is merely an interpretation of a century old chart (The Great Chain of Being). Neither is right nor wrong compared to one another.
ReplyDeleteI was really invested in Atwood when she spoke of how stories are naturally constructed, throwing away the idea that there are two kinds of individuals, or rather styles in which a story can be created, suggesting that the division between an Intelligence and Emotion. That they are meant to be combined in order to produce a true writer's product, the melding of the two elements brings what makes humans human to a tale, thus establishing a more refined story.
ReplyDeleteI agree with her thought of language being one of the most important, and complex things given to humans. Without language, it would be hard to communicate. Adults would just be babies in big bodies since all they can do is make noise and use body language. But then again, language is also inevitable. It's impossible for 2 humans to live and do things together without even trying to communicate. If somehow all spoken languages were to be gone, the world would have to adapt to sign language which, in fact, is a kind of language. A disadvantage of having no spoken languages would be that it would be harder, not impossible though, to connect words and emotion together. A person can say the same thing and mean a lot of different things. A person can say the word "Okay" many ways. He can say it with puzzlement, excitement, agreement, anger, and even with no emotion. The only way out of this would be using facial expression but not everyone can make facial expression that correlates with what they are saying. Language gives meaning to random words spoken or written. Narrative abilities of humans evolved from our ancestor from making simple noises to be able to speak 6500 complex languages.
ReplyDeleteAtwood said in the interview, "It's not pure emotion; it's a melding of those two things, which is where we exist as human beings... We are thought/feeling entities". This shows an interesting contrast with Brutus' beliefs. Brutus believed that emotion was undesirable and logic was the only thing needed to be an honorable person. Since Brutus was a stoic, he desired to be a sage, or someone without emotion. A stoic believes that emotion is a false judgement and is undesirable. However, Atwood believes that emotion and intelligence can't be separated. Unlike an Epicurianist who only cares about emotion, Atwood believes that emotion and intelligence alongside each other makes us human. Removing on or the other makes us inhuman. She goes on to say, "In fact, some people who have done studies on it say that if you remove the emotion from the person through some accident, they have a lot of trouble making decisions because they try to reason everything out and you actually can't. It's endless". This is further support to her belief that emotion and logic cannot be separated. This also may be why Brutus was so stupid; he tried to reason everything out without using his feelings. (That is if he has any). He would have made better decisions if he used his emotion as well.
ReplyDeleteMargaret Atwood explains in the video the exceptional difference between humans and other animals is language. "Well many animals have methods of communicating with one another but none of them have our kind of extremely elaborate grammar." Through stories, humans can communicate many different things. With a tale of a bad decision, a listener can learn to pick wisely when faced with choices. A story with a happy ending can be comforting and help spread positive vibes. Our language being utilized to tell stories is a great tool in our lives. If one thinks about it, words are connected to our memories as well. Most people's first memories begin around the time they started talking. Without words, people might not even remember their past. Language is such a vital part to human life.
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ReplyDeleteAtwood proves a point in her speech that we are “thought- feeling entities”. We, as humans, can’t help but to have emotion or show a side of emotion because that’s how we are built. For example, Atwood quotes, “If you remove the emotion from a person who has been through an accident, they have a lot of trouble making decisions because they try to reason everything out.” This quote is very true because people always ask the question, why? Why did this happen? Why didn’t it happen to me? etc. Also, the video is called, “Why We Tell Stories” and to tell a story you need a creative, emotional thought process to write a meaningful message. Without your inner emotion and creativity you can’t write an interesting story, that’s why the emotional people make great authors. Therefore, as Atwood says, “What it means to be human, is to to have the ability to tell stories.” Meaning the best people with this ability should be authors so they can write and share thought provoking stories. Even though Atwood’s style of explaining her thoughts on “Why We Tell Stories” is dry and a little strange, I have to agree with her because everything she says is true to me and is relatable to what I already know.
If this blogpost deletes, I won't retype it. Every damn time I do one, it's always gone. But yo, back to my monotone girl, Atwood, who is pretty brilliant af. Usually I argue or disagree or don't even answer the dumb posts you usually make us do, but I dig her. "...you remove the emotion from the person through some accident, they have a lot of trouble making decisions because they try to reason everything out and you actually can’t. It’s endless." This brought me back to my essay about the battle between your head and heart. But using your head doesn't necessarily mean order, this is why I don't think anything for sure is true. Even that statement doesn't necessarily have to be true. I don’t even know what I’m saying right now because I’m putting so much thought into this. How does one know what's right? How do you know something for sure is 100% correct? So when you put too much thought and reason, you will be stuck. Sticking with your emotions, can make rash decisions, but decisions. Something gets done. Nothing gets done with rationalizing because anything can be argued. Anything. Sticking to something causes you to make a slippery slope. Like legalizing marijuana can make people want other drugs to be legal because they have right to or because cigarettes are legal and harmful but are still legal, so all them bad ass drugs should be legal too. Ya na mean? Maybe I'm rambling and maybe I'm dumb, but whatever.
ReplyDeleteNo cursing, please.
DeleteMargaret Atwood, besides being incredibly charming and expressive, offered interesting ideas about human creativity and emotions. She states, “We are thought-feeling entities.” Essentially, Atwood implies that human emotion dictates how our world is run. Our emotions are what ultimately guide our decision-making process. As inherently selfish creatures, we want to do what makes us feel good. In some cases, our hearts will supercede our heads, and we will make decisions based off of wild emotions rather than logic. But while the idea of emotions running wild sounds bad, it is actually necessary in order for us to make any decisions at all. Atwood also states, “... If you remove the emotion from the person… they have a lot of trouble making decisions because they try to reason everything out and you actually can’t. It’s endless.” Ultimately, there must be a balance between our emotions and our logic. In order to achieve personal happiness, we must factor in our emotions, however to maintain responsibilities and order, we must also think about the logic. As “thought-feeling entities” we must be able to make the distinction between what we feel is right and what is right.
ReplyDeleteMore often than not, what feels right, is right. At least according to the Force, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Yoda!
DeleteI agree with most of the things that Atwood was saying. However, she said, “We are a very creative species,” which is something that I just do not understand. “We are a very creative species”, says who? Us? Well of course we are going to call ourselves creative; humans like tooting their own horns, and this is why I do not understand how some people are able to back up things like, “we are complex beings”, or, “we are intelligent”. We are creative and complex and intelligent because we say we are. When speaking of the arts, Atwood said that “the people who are professionals have somehow been able to cross that threshold to the place where they have an informed audience and where they can scratch a living out of it in some way.” This relates to something that I agree with and find interesting: that storytelling is an evolutionary adaptation. However, this does not prove that people are creative; she even said that people go into the arts to “scratch a living out of it in some way”. This is not creativity; it is adaptation! The octopus has been seen stacking coconut shell halves and carrying them around with it to use as mobile armor and shelter; this is not done due to creative expression, it is done to give the octopus an advantage over other animals. People are no different. They create art, for the most part, in order to please the masses into giving them money so that they can have an edge over other humans. Finally, I agree with everything else Atwood said, other than her switching from “we are thought-feeling machines” to “we are thought-feeling entities."
ReplyDeleteSo, you feel creativity is actually adaptation. Interesting. But I don't see most artistic endeavors as survival tactics... Perhaps Atwood truly felt compelled to write The Handmaid's Tale--I could certainly be wrong. I don't know. We humans are impractical and complicated.
DeleteHumans crave emotions. We watch scary movies to feel suspense and thrill, dramas to feel heartache and sadness, and comedies to feel happiness. Humans need connections with each other through emotions. When you put people in isolation, they go insane. They need to feel emotions or at least something with somebody to stay human. As Atwood said, "We are thought/feeling entities." Feelings and emotions are important, but we need logic and reasoning just as well. If I saw somebody crying in the hallway, I wouldn't start crying with them too because even though I know how they're feeling, I don't understand why. Same thing with logic, "...if you remove the emotion from the person through some accident, they have a lot of trouble making decisions because they try to reason everything out and you actually can't. " We tell stories because it allows us to combine logic and feelings. We are able to connect with other people and share our emotions while also conveying why we feel those emotions. What did I just say? Whatever, hope it makes sense.
ReplyDeleteI read you loud and clear: not everything is logical, and that is ok.
DeleteWhen Atwood talks about what would happen if you remove emotion from a person really makes me think. If your emotions control your decision making so much how would you be able to function without emotions? Most things that are done on a daily bases are done by making an initial decision. Without emotion life would come to a standstill. One might never get over a very small decision that could create chaos because of the lack of emotion. This really shows how much emotion shapes man kind and that our emotion really shapes us because it determines the decisions that one makes.
ReplyDeleteAtwood says, “We are thought-feeling entities.” And she is absolutely correct on that statement. Humans are logical, yet also emotional. We can’t be only rational or only sensitive; we’re all a combination of both of these ideas. If everyone were to be logical all the time, we’d be orderly, systematic robots. If we were to base everything off of our emotions we’d be a disordered mess of a civilization. With her point of how humans wouldn’t be able to function on just logic, she proves that one can’t reason something out without feeling what is right or knowing what will happen. She states, “In fact, some people who have done studies on it say that if you remove the emotion from the person through some accident, they have a lot of trouble making decisions because they try to reason everything out and you actually can’t. It’s endless.” The concepts of logic and emotion cannot be separated or else we wouldn’t be able to properly function. We are a species that bases our decisions off of reasoning and emotions, and you can’t do one without the other.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Margaret Atwood when she says, “We are thought-feeling entities.” As humans, we need to feel things. We yearn for emotion, any kind at all. But we are also reasonable. As she had said, “But what really hits people is the story because it's not an intellectual thing and it's not just a scream. It's not pure emotion; it's a melding of those two things, which is where we exist as human beings.” Like everything, you need balance. One cannot be too emotional or else chaos will occur, nor can one be too logical or else we would be “machines.” That is why we have stories. Our mind and heart mix together and we are able to get through life much more efficiently. Mankind would not be able to survive without them. It sets the foundation for our every thought. It is what makes us, us. Even though we already live in a messed up society, emotion and reasoning mustn’t be separated. You take one away, humanity would cease to exist.
ReplyDeleteMargaret Atwood states, "It's not pure emotion; it's a melding of those two things, which is where we exist as human beings... We are thought/feeling entities". She is absolutely right! There must be a balance between one’s emotions and one’s logic, because without them humans wouldn’t be able to function properly. As Cynthia mentioned earlier, “ If everyone were to be logical all the time, we’d be orderly, systematic robots. If we were to base everything off of our emotions we’d be a disordered mess ...” Furthermore, Atwood proves that humans must have some sort of emotion in order to make any decisions. She states, “...if you remove the emotion from the person through some accident, they have a lot of trouble making decisions because they try to reason everything out and you actually can't. " Humans cannot be just one thing, because as I mentioned earlier emotion and reason coexist in our lives. That is just how we are made.
ReplyDeleteMargaret Atwood’s point brings me back to my analysis paper on the ongoing battle between your head and your heart. The play Julius Caesar, made me realize that using your head doesn't necessarily create order. In fact, being too logical can complicate everything. Which is why we need emotion to balance things out. However, if someone is too emotional it could create disorder. Which is exactly why we need to think logically. Ultimately, Humans are a species that base their decisions off of reason and emotions, and they cannot practice one without the other.
Atwood says, “What it means to be human, is to have the ability to tell stories.” The stories we can tell have changed humans, we have both logic and emotion. Of course the two might be in constant battle but they definitely give us an advantage. They definitely cause disorder and animals are some very orderly beings. But we can tell stories and not be killed because we explain and feel, which is cool. A story whether through pictures or words or hand gestures does a lot like Atwood said. All stories teach, they teach you something. You'll learn something from any story.
ReplyDeleteI found Atwood's explanation of human nature, on the reason of "Why Do We Tell Stories," quite interesting. She begins in saying, "Narratives are an evolved adaptation." This is intriguing, as humans have had many adaptations, and storytelling is one of the least recognized traits. People don't often realize the importance of storytelling. She also begins to explain the use of art, and as the saying goes, "A picture is worth a thousand words." Pictures and Storytelling can be a useful adaptation, like Atwood's example, of the alligator in the river, and the man warning the other man. Also, George Santayana once said, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." As people who cant remember or understand their past, will have those experiences again, mostly bad ones. As Atwood explains, storytelling is an evolutionary adaptation, and those with it reproduced,( as they were able to learn, and warn others.)
ReplyDeleteHistory is a story; not a simple recollection of facts and figures.
DeleteAtwood states , "In fact, some people who have done studies on it say that if you remove the emotion from the person through some accident, they have a lot of trouble making decisions because they try to reason everything out and you actually can't. It's endless.". I agree with this saying so much because over thinking things just makes things more difficult. People always try to come up with a perfect answer to things, but there just isn't one. You need emotion to sway you to one side to decide and then you will feel complete because something you care about helped you decide. But Brutus believes the complete opposite. He thinks that you don't need emotion for things and all you need is logic. In other words he was a Stoic. Overall, I agree with Atwood because I think emotion plays a huge role in everything we do. Logic can only take you so far before you end up stuck in hole.
ReplyDeleteAtwood states , "In fact, some people who have done studies on it say that if you remove the emotion from the person through some accident, they have a lot of trouble making decisions because they try to reason everything out and you actually can't. It's endless.". I agree with this saying so much because over thinking things just makes things more difficult. People always try to come up with a perfect answer to things, but there just isn't one. You need emotion to sway you to one side to decide and then you will feel complete because something you care about helped you decide. But Brutus believes the complete opposite. He thinks that you don't need emotion for things and all you need is logic. In other words he was a Stoic. Overall, I agree with Atwood because I think emotion plays a huge role in everything we do. Logic can only take you so far before you end up stuck in hole.
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ReplyDeleteIn the Handmaid’s tale Margaret Atwood includes her personal incite and like in the video explores the question “Why do we tell stories?” only as Offred. In the novel Offred ponders the subject as a relevant necessity, even alone we fantasize and imagine the “what ifs”. As humans we have the capability to run our entire lives, every touch, every sound, every human encounter within our own minds as if it were reality. But it isn’t the same as the real thing. Atwood points out "... if you remove the emotion from the person through some accident, they have a lot of trouble making decisions because they try to reason everything out and you actually can’t. It’s endless." Emotions run our lives, they choose when to be sympathetic or brush off a common wolf crier. They teach us how to act in public, to not call someone a disrespectable term, to behave somewhat presentable. Because emotions make us think of the person standing in front of us rather than ourselves. Take away thought and we are left to be machines. No goals to strive for nothing would ever get done. No dancer would have the ambition to create art or a politician to attempt to run the country. This powerful statement is the cause and effect of insanity. Humans need something to hold onto, without human interaction we lose time and eventually ourselves in the process. The greatest example is prison. Some may beg to differ and debate death is a worse. But in death comes peace with prison comes 4 cement walls and you and yourself. Nothing less, nothing more. And I would say that it is the worst fate of all, solitary confinement drives a person mad listening to their thoughts. Atwood says “we are a creative species” We put this title on ourselves yet without the emotion we endure creativity is lost. Pain, death happiness are creative influences that make works of art come to life.
ReplyDeleteVery deep, Dina. Logic would simply cause a plague of human selfishness.
DeleteStories are told to teach lessons on how to survive. For example when Atwood says "I can tell you all sorts of other things that are very usable to you for survival in your world." If Uncle Gorge had gotten eaten in the river than one won't make that same mistake. The story of the Tortes and the Hair has been passed down generation after generation. This teaches people never to be too cocky and count your chickens before they hatch. Giving life lessons is the main reason stories such as the Tortes and the Hair have survived so long, and this is what Atwood is saying.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed watching the interview of Margaret Atwood because I couldn't agree with her more. Her view of humans is very similar to mine. She says that "We are thought-feeling entities". I have always believed that the human race is unique because we feel so many emotions that it separates us from everything else. The fact that we devote ourselves to certain things or have emotional drives fascinates me. Having emotions is a part of human nature. Atwood even mentions, "In fact, some people who have done studies on it say that if you remove the emotion from the person through some accident, they have a lot of trouble making decisions because they try to reason everything out and you actually can't. It's endless." If we don't have emotions, we aren't human. In addition, Atwood states that we are a creative species. This is true because there's so much in the world created by humans. It's endless and there is so much for us to discover. However, we aren't all that though. I believe that most of us now are selfish and now we are dumb because of technology. Including me. Our generation sucks. Facts.
ReplyDeleteWhen Atwood said that "If you remove emotion from a person, they will have trouble making decisions". I can't imagine a person without any emotion just sitting there and thinking of endless possibilities for a way to come up with a decision. Making decisions is what makes us human and it is driven by our emotions and instincts. If we didn't have emotion our species would be just like machines and let alone the fact that we'd go instinct. Yes, emotion can also bring upon the demise of our race as seen throughout history when people made poor decisions, but the fact that we can communicate with one another and express our emotions is a better alternative to being boring, emotionless "entities" and is what makes each individual unique.
ReplyDeleteEven though I couldn't stand her monotone voice, I was interested when she said "In fact, some people who have done studies on it say that if you remove the emotion from the person through some accident, they have a lot of trouble making decisions because they try to reason everything out and you actually can't. It's endless." It is true that we are thought-feeling entities because as humans we do things based on our emotions. Our thoughts and actions are controlled by the emotions we feel. Our actions and choices are guided by our emotions and that is why people with no emotion struggle to make decisions. They are caught up in the reasoning of their decisions, not by what they think or feel.
ReplyDeleteAtwood explains that people tell stories very frequently. People tell stories to often feel a connection or an emotion towards something. For example, when someone can read the same book 5 times, they feel a certain connection towards the novel or they can relate to it in some way. When she says how humans are “thought feeling machines” it made me realize that humans as a whole are very emotional and have the ability to get attached to something that gives them a distinct feeling. She also goes into detail and explains the creative aspect of human life and how people sing in the shower even though they’re not professional singers. Sometimes we as people get thrill and excitement when we think of the ability to be something better. We always hope and dream of becoming something great in life and even if it’s just our imagination, you still get that second of hope that something impossible could be possible.
ReplyDeleteAtwood says how people assimulate information through stories easier than charts and graphs. People need stories because it helps them learn. “What it means to be human, is to have the ability to tell stories.” When Atwood said this I thought it made a lot of sense to me. Everything in life is a story. We are humans and all humans have stories to tell. There wouldn't really be life without stories.
ReplyDeleteIn the video, Margaret Atwood stated, "..people say that ordinary people aren't interested in the arts are just dead wrong. Everybody kind of is and they all do something in their life. They're doing something creative because we are a very creative species." Who say that we are creative species? God? The internet? My parents? Us, humans, say what we want to believe is true. That question sounds fishy to me but I can see how we think of us as creative species. Like we were able to turn a device that was primary made to communicate with others from long distance to a device that can do more than that and enhance the process of communication alot. In other words, how we turn an old line phone into our modern day phones. That is creative and amazing. Each day, we, humans, are evolving and learning about everything in our world. The day that I will say we are a creative species is the day when we get hover-boards and flying cars. Basically somethings from "Back to the future Part II". Overall, there can be other species in different universe that can more creative than us. I see ourselves as more evolving and more interesting species.
ReplyDeleteYeah, self-lacing Nike's are cool, but where's my hoverboard?
DeleteI don't FEEL like posting, but I THINK part of me knows that I have no choice but to participate in society's expectation on successful high school students. So just add a tally for the "thought-feeling machines," side. What about someone born with an innate ability to be gifted at something? Atwood sprinkles over an idea when she describes a garage worker who has the talent for opera. Then she talks about how hard work determines a person's mastery. All Atwood had to do was pick a side, but she ended up being washy wishy, let's eat that Ricky's, and meet up at the city.... Anyway, I'm not talking about the stereotypical Asian piano playing child that gets blood on the piano whenever he or she messes up on one of Beethoven's symphonies. There are exceptions to her thought on hard work and expertise. If she used the word experience, instead of mastery, then I wouldn't have anything to write about.Goodnight
ReplyDeleteThe video my Margaret Atwood was somewhat simple about how she explained what story telling was all about. Especially in the beginning of the video where she talked about the Crocodile eating the old man and how that story was power because it was her as a human being who was saying it without facts to back it up. Also she gave good insight on how the power of storytelling is really only there for the people who work at it indicating that people on Twitter don't make good stories. Only people who work at it like her are good storytellers like people who work at other stuff who are good at what they do which seems pretty simple to me.
ReplyDeleteMargaret Atwood implies that early humans with narrative abilities and the ability to comprehend stories had an evolutionary advantage over their peers. “Language is one of the most primary facts of our existence.” “We are thought-feeling entities." The ability to tell a story is what makes us human. All humans are storytellers by nature whether the story is interesting or not. We like to read books and watch movies about other peoples’ lives. When we tell stories to our friends, we tend to fabricate it to make it more interesting. In the stories we hear, we like to feel something. We tell stories because we love to receive and express emotions and reactions. I really enjoyed Margaret’s speech.
ReplyDeleteMargaret Atwood talks about how the human language differs from other animal language and how humans with narrative abilities and the ability to comprehend stories had an evolutionary advantage over their peers. I agree with Atwood when she says "Language is one of the primary facts of our existence." Without language humans would not have evolved. We learn from our mistakes and we learn from history. Without language we would not know that someone already tried that and failed we would have to do it and realize it for ourselves. Just like the example Atwood talks about how if we did not have language we would not have known that Uncle George got eaten in the lake we would have to experience it then learn from it. Without language there is so much extra you have to do to have knowledge. For example we know what to do and what not do for our government because we know the history and we know what has helped and what has not benefited our government. Without this knowledge we would have to do everything to realize what we have right now is the ideal government. You need language to communicate ideas and to learn from the past without language we would be just as clueless as the other animals.
ReplyDeleteEven though Margret has less emotion than a piece of wood she has some great points and is super smart. She says “We are thought-feeling entities.” emotions are a part of our everyday lives and everyone has them. We sometimes use logic and emotion to get through a situation but if we were only using either thought or feeling everything would just be a mess. To much thought is boring and too much emotion sounds like an annoying teenage girl who just broke up with her boyfriend. There are so many emotions out there, psychologists are not even sure of how many their are because theres a plethora of variations to every simple emotion. (sad, happy, bored, etc.) Sometimes emotions can get in the way of things but it can help us make logical decisions, without thought we would probably cry all the time but without emotion we would sit and stare at walls all day. We need a little bit of both for a balance in life. And that is exactly how Atwood views humans, as "thought-feeling entities".
ReplyDeleteIn the video, Margaret Atwood mentioned some very true things about humans and life. One of them being when she says “But what really hits people is the story because it's not an intellectual thing and it's not just a scream. It's not pure emotion; it's a melding of those two things, which is where we exist as human beings.” This quote stuck out to me because it is very relevant. As humans, we tell stories with half being what happened and half being our emotions and feelings about the story. Humans are a medium between logic and emotion. This brings me to the next idea, in which Atwood says that if you take out human emotion, we wouldn't be able to make a rational decision. When Atwood stated this, I immediately thought of Brutus. With Brutus being the stoic that he is, he tried to block out all his emotions and feelings. This is why Brutus is so stupid because it is humanly impossible for humans to not feel or act on their emotions. Atwood even confirmed this idea. Another thing I liked about the video is when Atwood mentioned human creativity. She mentioned that humans are the only species to create art just for the beauty of it. This is a very valid point and a very different way of looking at art. Humans literally appreciate art just for the beauty of it and that is something that only our species does. Overall, Margaret Atwood made a lot of relevant points about life, humans and emotions. Although she didn't seem like a "thought-feeling entity" herself, she still stated some very truthful claims about human nature and taught me some pretty valid stuff.
ReplyDeleteIt's easy to see why Margaret Atwood describes us humans as "thought feeling entities." She goes on further to explain that an imbalance of emotion will only leave the person thinking indefinitely. I find this to be true, not only did we see this in the character of Brutus in Julius Caesar, but we also know how different a person can be when the thoughts and emotions of that person is greater than the other.
ReplyDeleteThe quote, "We are thought-feeling entities," stuck with me throughout the whole video. Think about it, we are the most evolved species on the planet, we have thought and emotions. Take away the feelings and we are robots. Take away the brains, and we are reckless. But another quote that goes hand-in-hand with this one is, "We are a very creative species." Without our creativity we wouldn't even be able to make up stories. Other animals are smart enough to communicate, but you don't see your pet turtle sitting at the computer writing a novel. Or your cat telling you a bedtime story. Together our creative and thought-feeling nature is the reason why we tell our stories.
ReplyDeleteEmotions are also reckless, right?
DeleteThe part of Margaret Atwood's speech that stuck out to me the most was when she said "We're not thought machines, we're not screaming machines, we are thought/feeling machines, if we're machines at all, let's pretend we're not." When she says "let's pretend we're not" that's what really sticks out. She makes that statement proving that we are. All people really are are thought/feeling machines. Everyone does practically the same routine as machines do and the only thing that throws us of on the occasion is feelings. But overall I think Atwood's whole interview was very insightful and accurate.
ReplyDeleteI really liked how Atwood talked about how we have all these ways to communicate and put certain things into words, while animals only have one way of communicating. We have all these words to use and we always feel like they're not enough or good enough to make something as powerful as we think it should be. We have so many different tones and emotions we could use to show what we are talking about and how we want to make the story seem. We tell these stories to bring joy and happiness, or just entertainment. The way these words and communication is put is the way that the story would be portrayed. Overall the whole video was very accurate and helped explain why we tell stories and for what and i really enjoyed it.
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