Best of Week: Why is this story not about how drugs give you epiphanies?

Not the typical discussion question. But I thought that the way that this question was presented to us made it amusing to answer. People were more interested in the discussion because of the humor of it. In addition, because more people are interested, you can generate a more interesting (from the student point of view) discussion, with supporters for both sides of the argument (although we were only allowed to argue one side). I think that in the future, we should have more of these types of questions, i.e. questions that are relevant to the text and to our lives, that may be humorous, that can generate discussion, and that keep the class interested. I feel that the class was (somewhat) more energized when answering this question than with other discussion questions.

What if?: Matrix and postmodernism...?

Postmodernism is a philosophy that attempts describe our current world. The Matrix seems to be heavily influenced by postmodernism... it may even be an attempt to explain post modernism. However, from what I can tell, the Matrix is not an exact representation of postmodernism. The "system" in the Matrix was (directly) imposed upon human culture by machines, while the "system" in our world is supposed to have been imposed upon human culture by humans. (Although the world of the Matrix is implied to be our world in the future, and therefore we can assume that our "system" existed in the Matrix world as well, just 200 or so years earlier). In addition, the purposes of the systems are different. In the Matrix, the system is used to pacify humans while using them as a power source, while in our world the system was likely created gradually, without the outcome in mind at the start, and probably unknowingly to those who were creating it. What if it wasn't like that? What if somebody purposely imposed the system upon us with the "system effect" as the desired outcome, as in the Matrix? As it is right now, many of us accept the system, despite the fact that we know about the system. In the Matrix, we see that many of the people who know of the system reject the system. Is this a result of the system being forced upon them? If the system we're in right now was imposed upon us by a man interested in riches, and who profited from our actions, would we also reject the system?

Connection: Kurtz and Hitler

The fictional character of Mr. Kurtz from Heart of Darkness and Hitler bear striking resemblances. Mr. Kurtz was, as we know from Marlow's descriptions, eloquent, and through his eloquence, was able to captivate many people. Hitler was also eloquent. He used his eloquence to captivate those who would become his subordinates. In addition both of these people had what we would consider to be racist views of the world. Hitler, as we know, eliminated many people based on qualities he deemed inferior, including being handicapped or Jewish. Mr. Kurtz deemed native Africans as inferior "savages." He also wrote in his book that he would "Exterminate all the brutes."