Evolution Embedded in Symbols
Two billion years ago two prokaryotes bumped into each other and formed the first multi-cellular organism. 65 million years ago an asteroid hit the earth and dinosaurs became extinct. Three days ago, in your notebook you drew a mess of squiggles which to you represented Jackson Pollock's painting, Number 1, 1948. You wrote the word entropy on the upper left hand corner of the page. On the bottom right hand side you wrote, Creativity is based on randomness and chance.
This paper is, in part, an exploration of the pictures and words that we place in notebooks; it is an investigation of the human fixation with the creation of symbols via art and writing. But is also about how the symbols drawn in one's notebook are just as relevant as the development of multi-cellular organisms and the extinction of the dinosaurs. Indeed human symbol-making relates to the entire spectrum of evolutionary processes.
If human recorded history only represents 10,000 years of a universe which has been evolving for 15 billion years, then how can such relatively recent human cultural practices as writing and art tell us anything about evolution? I would like to suggest that if we look at artifacts of human visual and written culture, we can find evidence of a human quest to understand biological evolution. Indeed, it seems that symbol-making allows humans to reconnect to their biological roots. It allows people to reenact and represent the biological principles of evolution. Ultimately, this paper will look at the way in which the brain allows for this symbol-making. It will discuss the way the brain itself is an evolutionary object, an emergent system capable not only of evolving but of representing evolution. But be...
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So what the heck was Joseph Heller up to? Well he was showing all of the things that were wrong with the army in the 1940's. He made it a point to point out all of the disorientation in the army. He also uses a lot of satire because obviously it makes everything better. So all in Heller was up to poking fun at the United States military and the human race all at once.
Auteri, Steph. “How the Push for Abstinence Until Marriage Has Affected Teen Pregnancy Rates” Sexually Smarter. Planned Parenthood of Central and Greate...
In society black women are no longer represented as the nurturing, protective, loving, and caring mother, no...
Catch-22, by Joseph Heller, is a fictitious novel that depicts life on an American bomber squadron on Pianosa, an island off the coast of Italy, during the closing years of World War II. A bombardier by the name of Yossarian, the main character in the story, is joined by many others to create a comic drama unlike any other. But aside from the entertainment, Heller uses Catch-22 to satirize many aspects of everyday life that consist of hypocrisy, corruption, and insanity. From the laziness of policeman to the fake happiness brought about by money, the novel is painted with a great number of points targeted against the faults of modern society. However, along with these smaller targets, a majority of the Heller’s satire in the novel is aimed specifically at the imperious bureaucracy in the military, the current nature of man, and the corruption of religion; all of which accentuate the senselessness of war itself. Through Yossarian, who is conscience of what is sane, along with characters who are not, Heller emphasizes his ridicule by making what is appropriate seem peculiar and what is ludicrous seem common, ultimately giving the reader a viewpoint that proves astonishingly effective.
Man is the product of heredity and environment and that he acts as his machine responds to outside stimuli and nothing else, seem amply proven by the evolution and history of man. Every process of nature and life is a continuous sequence of cause and effect (156).
There is a lot to prove that Paneloux first sermon contains a lot of bad ideas. Even though God does bring His wrath out on the world a lot in the Bible, the plague is mos...
Leonardo DiVinci's figure drawings and anatomical sketches interest me. His exploration of ideas and exhausting research inspired my practice. As I have continued with my own exploration, I have expanded my research to include ideas from philosophy and science as well as art.
“Catch-22 is probably best discussed in terms of its language. The prose style Heller employs is original and distinctive, appropriate and well implemented (Pearson 277).” One application of that prose style is dialogue; Heller uses dialogue to manifest the themes of the novel. Some of the themes best shown in the dialogue of the characters are Heller's hatred of war, and his perceived idiocy in military and in bureaucracy. Scattered throughout the book are several dialogues which share numerous characteristics. Some particular conversations are especially demonstrative of these elements. Heller uses these dialogues to communicate his ideas to the reader. In chapter XXXVI, several military police officers pick up the camp's Chaplain, take him to The Cellar, and interrogate him. The dialogue between the three MPs and the Chaplain is typical of dialogues throughout the book in many ways and the conversation reflects numerous themes central toCatch-22. The interrogation scene offers many insights into the meaning of Catch-22and the dialogue therein is especially important. The camp Heller describes is bureaucratic in the worst possible way and the conversation exhibits those characteristics of bureaucracy that Heller most loathes: illogical operation, inability to take action, lateral actions (in which no real gain is made), and a maelstrom of regulations which work against each other.
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Camus' inability to accept Christian theology is voiced in The Plague by Riex and juxtaposed against the beliefs preached by Father Paneloux (Rhein 42). Paneloux's attitude toward the plague contrasts sharply with Rieux's. In his first sermon, he preaches that the plague is divine in origin and punitive in its purpose. He attempts to put aside his desires for a rational explanation and simply accepts God's will. In this way he is not revolting and therefore falls victim to the plague.
Over one million American seek short cuts to larger muscles and greater endurance with anabolic steroids and other performance enhancing drugs. Steroids are drugs that act like chemical in the body. Most steroids are transformed into testosterone when they enter the body. Testosterone is a male growth hormone. While user may gain short-term results, they are seriously shortchanging their health (Kalawalski 13-15).
There are several negative stereotypes associated with video games and those who play them; some of these may often hold true. However, there are plenty of learning opportunities in video games. While the direct purpose of some games is to educate or train, other games that do not directly have this purpose can still become a learning experience for the player. As Ntiedo Etuk, president of the educational video game company Tabula Digital said, “The traditional view of video games has been that they are distractions from the task of learning” (Electronic Education Report 1). Video games are an effective tool for learning and retaining skills both inside and outside the classroom environment. The basic cycle of game play--the introduction to the game, game play, collaboration, improvement of these between each round, and evaluation at the end of the game (Klievink and Janssen 159)--are nearly parallel to the traditional classroom learning cycle of reading a textbook or listening to a lecture, taking a quiz, studying, focusing on items missed on the quiz, and taking a test or exam. Within this cycle, there are many opportunities to develop and perfect both educational, life, and occupational skills.
In Animals, it is possible to consider creativity in three steps: recognition of the problem (novelty), observation of it and create an innovative behaviour(Kaufman & Kaufman, 2004). For example, some animals are able to create a new behaviour to give solution to a new situation (Animal innovation, 2003). Furthermore, in neuroscience it is common to use animal for investigation. In fact, ...
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