In the TED-Talk, Are We Really in Control of Our Own Decisions, Dan Ariely discusses how certain aspects of choice effect the way we as humans make decisions. In the talk, Ariely uses examples and graphs to show just how this works. For example, in one of his graphs, he talks about organ donation that people typically sign up for at the DMV. In some countries, the check box for organ donation asks: Check this box if you would like to be an organ donor. In this case, people choose, more often than not, to surpass this box. Contrary to these countries, other countries list the option for organ donation as: Check this box if you would NOT like to be an organ donor. To my surprise, people still did not check the box. But why was this? You see, when people are presented with few options, they tend to find it hard to make a decision. This being said, if a person where to be given more than two options, it might make their ability to decide quite a bit easier. Take this for example: You and your family want tot take a trip to either the apple orchard or the pumpkin patch, but are interested in which trip would be a better investment. After doing some research, your family is down to these two options:
This illusion of decision is common and rather tragic when you think about it. Humans are full of physical flaws but it isn't common to think about our mental flaws. Our decision making skills could use a bit of brushing up on. Another example pertaining to this flawed thinking is the story of Oedipus. In the story, Oedipus gets news of a prophecy. This prophecy states that if he were to stay in his hometown, with his family, he would inevitably marry his mother and kill his father. This, of course, resulted in Oedipus moving away from his family and hometown. When you think about it, you realize that if Oedipus was never given this information about his potential future homicidal tendencies, he would have never moved away. This really is one of the most tragic parts of the story, and is all based on this decision making illusion.
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A fact many of us know all too well is the fact that the truth will always make it's way out into our hearts. In the tragedy, Oedipus Rex, the playwright gives an extraordinary example of the tragic reveal of truth. The play starts off by introducing a town, which has started falling apart and now needs the help of Oedipus, their trustworthy leader. Oedipus is looked up to by the people, for he has saved towns before and solved riddles in previous times. Upon trying to fix the town, Oedipus realizes that he must find the murderer of the previous king, and at first, peacefully looks for the murderer by asking around. One of the individuals to first speak up to Oedipus is Tiresias, who at first finds it hard to speak, for he fears the inevitable reaction of Oedipus and the people of the town. Throughout the play, it becomes evident that Oedipus does not want to face the painful truth, which consists of him murdering his father, and marrying his mother. The true tragedy begins when truth comes out, and the people involved in the situation fall apart. Oedipus's mother/wife hangs herself due to the sorrow, and Oedipus stabs his eyes to shreds out of anger toward his mother. The people who are left to bare the truth are his four daughters, who must now suffer in light of this dark secret. When it comes to my definition of tragedy, this is a perfect example. The suffrage that each individual in this story faced is a real example of human suffrage and pain. The truth will always come out, and it won't always be pretty. Over time, the presence of heroes in literature has dwindled, causing a decrease in modern day tragedies. In the essay, Tragedy and the Common Man, written by Arthur Miller, Miller discusses the possibility as to why this heroic decrease is taking place. "... man has had the blood drawn out of his organs of belief by the skepticism of science.." In other words, we as a society have become to critical and too knowledgeable to accept things that are most obviously not real. This being said, heroes are an important part in literature, for they allow us to witness the tragedy we face in every day life, and can often inspire us to overcome these obstacles. Unfortunately though, modern man has a fear of failure, along with an acceptance toward such. Like in the previous video we watched in class, de Button talks about how we as a society accept our failures and beat ourselves up over it. This isn't what we should be doing, and is a perfect example as to why we need to keep tragedy in our minds. "The possibility must be there in tragedy..." Miller states, and this is true for both literature and everyday life. In order to succeed, we need to have that initial possibility for failure. This gives us a drive to accomplish what we truly want to accomplish. People often get into the rut of beating themselves down over not being able to achieve what they have set out to do, however, this is reality, and is presented heavily in tragedy. Heroes fail, just like everyone else, and in turn, pick themselves back up in order to try something new. This is human struggle, and my definition of tragedy is the written documentation of fictitious human struggle. Tragedy can have a multitude of meaning depending on the person you ask, and to some, tragedy could have a fairly close tie to the failure and success of our everyday lives. In the TED-Talk titled A Kinder, Gentler Philosophy to Success, Alain de Button begins talking about snobbery and it's tie to envy. Snobbery, as he defines it, is when a person makes an assumption of another by simply looking at one aspect of that person's appearance. Take for example the saying "Don't judge a book by it's cover." From snobbery, de Button describes envy, and how people who are envious tend to envy those similar in age. One example made by Alain de Button, is one in which he asks the audience whether or not they are envious of the queen. Most would say no, they are not envious of the queen. Why is that? de Button's answer for this is quite simple. Nearly everyone who is not royalty, or does not have government authority, cannot relate to the queen. If we are unable to relate, we are unable to envy. This being said, when we are able to relate to those around us, to people such as those we have went to school with, we compare ourselves to them. We look at some of these people and notice their fancy cars, jewelry, and large houses, and we think to ourselves: If they have that, I too deserve that. This is exactly how society today is run, and unfortunately, it is not working, for many people take this envy out on themselves. They look at themselves and punish themselves for failure. It is their fault for becoming this way, but really, the real world is not set up for everyone to be successful, or at least this depends on ones definition of success. This constant comparison to those around us, and this constant expectation, this goal we are unable to meet, is really what causes adults and youth alike to take their own lives. This is tragedy seen within the real world. Tragedy in the real world can be defined as the failure that a person see's within themselves, and the actions they take in account for this. Picture titled: 3rd Wheel, by Tihamer Von Margitay When I think of tragedy, I do not put a limit as to what it can pertain to. Tragedy, in my mind, can be a genre of art, writing, or drama. If I were to describe what makes art tragic, I'd have to say that the colors and presentation have a lot to do with it. Blues, browns, blacks, dark and gloomy colors could convey a rather sad and or tragic emotion. There are many examples out there of tragic paintings and drawings. One such painting is titled: Massacre of the Innocents by Peter Paul Rubens. The Massacre of the Innocents is a biblical account of infanticide, better known as the intentional killing of infants. Most people, or at least those who are capable of feeling any sort or sympathy and or empathy, would consider this a tragic event. A tragic event that causes a saddened or sorrowful emotion among the viewers of the painting. Now this painting's ability to convey this sort of emotion is similar to the way writing and drama has the ability to convey these sorts of emotions. By using strong language and unfortunate events, writers, both novelists and playwrights, are able to create a melancholy tone within their works, which is something I would define as tragedy. All of this being said, by definition, tragedy is a form of drama based on human suffering that provides entertainment to a given audience. Tragedy often is associated with a particular tradition of drama that has played as an important role in the history of western civilization. Although the term has had it bouts with use throughout time, the term can still convey a form of cultural identity and historical continuity. Tragedy originated in Ancient Greece around 2500 years ago, showing it's head for the first time in the theatre of Ancient Greece. This Greek form of tragedy could be defined as a sort of dance-drama and took place in late March/April during religious celebrations (which could be tied back, I suppose, the the biblical representation included in the painting above). These shows were actually a competition between three playwrights, each of which were required to present three tragedies and a final satyr piece. However, modern tragedy is not a competition, and has featured quite a few changes throughout time. In the past, tragedy represented the wealthy and powerful, but in modern day, it now features the ordinary man. I think that this inclusion makes it easier for people at any status to enjoy this genre of work, and has been important for keeping tragedy alive throughout time. |
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