It’s been a while…

I realize that it has been a while since I posted. There are a few people who read the blog regularly so I know I’ve kinda disappointed you. The truth is, I’ve been rethinking things. I went back and read a lot of the stuff I wrote and wanted to do a major overhaul. Of course, then I realized it’s just a blog! Due to a few classes that I took in my last year of university (*sigh*), I started thinking about the nature of ‘art’ and it’s role in our culture. I started to think more about Christianity’s relationship to culture. Christianity has a bit of a PR issue (a term that only our culture could appreciate) in western culture. Gone are the glory days of western domination.

Long story short, I decided to start a new blog. Soundtrack to My Thoughts was an experiment in writing for me. Some friends and strangers seemed to enjoy the stuff that I was writing about, so I guess I passed the test. My new blog is basically an expansion of this one. I like to explore cultural themes, especially when these themes are discussed through ‘art.’

It’s officially up and running, so check out High Thoughts on Low Art.

On Angels, Brutes and Dark Knights

“Man is neither angel nor brute, and the unfortunate thing is that he who would act the angel acts the brute.” Blaise Pascal

Why has western civilization fallen in love with a guy in a bat suit and a guy in a clown costume? I think it is because in some ways the story of Bruce Wayne and evil villains is our story. Batman tells us something about who we are. It tells what is good about us and reminds us of our great potential for evil. It also gives us hope. I don’t intend to spoil the plot but I do want to discuss some of the underlying philosophy of the movie.

I opened this post with a quote from Blaise Pascal who is a 17th century philosopher. His great philosophical work was not completed before his death but his writing survives in fragments and has been published under the title Pensees (French for “thoughts”).

In some of the fragments Pascal discusses the greatness and wretchedness of humankind. Who can deny that humans are capable of great acts of goodness? On the other hand, who can deny that humankind is capable of great acts of evil? Individual people do great things but we also do evil things. Societies and cultures as a whole do great things and they do evil things.

We know that we should do good things but instead, we do evil. We are not angles and we are not brutes yet, instead of acting like angels we choose to act like brutes.

I think we see this theme played out in The Dark Night. Bruce Wayne is a man with a lot of money and he can do whatever he wants. He chooses to do good. He acts like an angel. Well, a bat at any rate (they both have wings).

And then there is the Joker. Contrary to Bruce Wayne’s courageous selflessness, the Joker chooses to act the brute; quite literally. Make no mistake, these are not two equal and opposite forces of good and evil battling it out on the streets of Gotham. These are men who are capable (to some degree) of being good. But one chooses to be evil and to wreak havoc. This is a choice that we all have to make.

There is more to the story of course. Bruce Wayne himself recognizes that he is in danger of making wrong choices and being guilty of evil. We know from Batman Begins that Bruce has a dark side and that doing good does not come naturally. Just like Spiderman, Batman must struggle to do good things with his great power rather than bad things. Though he may wish to escape his high role of responsibility, to the delight of movie goers everywhere the caped crusader won’t be hanging up the bat suit just yet. The more he struggles to restore Gotham to a place of justice and opportunity, the more he must struggle with himself.

I think the people of Gotham illustrate Pascal’s point. It is from Gotham that these super-criminals come. There are very few angels in Gotham but many brutes. We do not get many glimpses of the larger population, but the look we do get foretells us that Batman hasn’t battled his last criminal. Gotham is constantly churning out new thugs and while crime rates go down, they never stay down.

In my opinion, Bruce Wayne has a false sense of hope in the people of Gotham. He really thinks that they can change. It is interesting that he thinks that a city that churns out supercriminals and a city that hates their own superhero might actually one day choose to act like angles.

And this is where I think The Dark Night reminds us of ourselves. We all choose to act like brutes don’t we? We all like to blame the problems of the world on other people but let’s face it, we are the world. Every once in a while a great person comes along and gives us great hope for the future. But we don’t listen. Every once in a while a very evil person arises and threatens the things that we care most about. We rise up and make a few good choices (like the people on the two ferries) but then we settle back down to live life as brutes. I think a little honest reflection proves this true. If we expect nothing but hideous evil from people we’ll be pleasantly surprised every now and then. After all, we’re not really brutes we just play the part. However, if we expect too much from people we’re going to be disappointed every day. Bruce Wayne won’t be with us forever.

Who can save us from this mess?

Shhh! We’re Trying to Watch the Movie.

Everybody knows how to watch a movie but not everybody knows how to watch a movie well. There is a difference between simply watching movies for entertainment and watching a movie to really interact with it.

It occurred to me a few years ago that people probably don’t make movies so that audiences can be mindlessly entertained. I think that there are a variety of ways in which movies are meant to interact with us. Some movies capture our imaginations and make us wish that we could enter their world. We follow the cast on a wild journey and kinda wish that we too could get swept up into something beyond the daily grind.

Some movies help us to confront the horrors that litter the landscapes of history. These are usually war movies about real people or tales of superheroes from other planets. The Band of Brothers, Spiderman, Superman, Transformers, and Saving Private Ryan all help us to confront and perhaps even battle the forces of evil, if only on the silver screen.

There are other movies though, that are not grand adventures and they do not portray cosmic battles between good and evil. They are movies that remind us about everyday life and yet somehow they still manage to capture our imaginations and maybe even our hearts, if only for an hour and a half. Here I have in mind movies such as Reign Over Me, Little Miss Sunshine and Juno. They are movies about real people; you probably know these characters in real life. There is something about these movies that we can all connect with. These stories star dysfunctional families and half-hearted friendships. The characters are always a little naive and make fools of themselves. They’re a little like us. In these characters we see the effects of the tragedies of life. If we were smart we’d stop and reflect and realize there is something to be learned from these characters. Out of tragedy often comes unity. A real unity among the characters that would not have been there if tragedy had not shook them out of their routine.

I think that one thing that stops Christians from watching movies well is that we are too easily offended and too quick to ignore things that seem sinful. We bypass movies that have bad language because they make us uncomfortable, but by doing this I think we’re throwing the baby out with the bath water. I mentioned Reign Over Me, Little Miss Sunshine and Juno. These movies are full of bad language. They probably rank among the worst movies for language that I have seen. But interestingly enough, I think the bad language was fitting, I think it was needed. In one way or another these movies are about real people. Sure, they’re a little rough around the edges but then so are you.

The real world is full of people that use bad language. Christians are called to be a light to the world and to interact with the world and show the way to God. Are we going to ignore people who use bad language? Of course not. So why ignore the movies? These movies can help us to reflect on life. They can teach us something about sympathizing with those who face tragedy. The filthy language forces us to consider just how bad the situation is for them.

Don’t get me wrong. I think that there are many movies that just have no taste. I don’t particularly enjoy movies that are full of senseless violence and sensational language and themes. Sometimes bad language is necessary because bad language is real. Sex is real. War is real. Inner struggles are real. Life doesn’t come with a mute button or an R rating, you never know what you’re going to get. I think good movies wrestle with the perplexities of life. But I think a good movie ought to remind us of the way life could be, the way life should be and the way life was meant to be.

I’ve included a couple video clips from a radio show called Stand to Reason. The host, Greg Koukl, spends some time talking about watching movies in general and also discusses Juno and Prince Caspian. I think we could learn a thing or two from him when it comes to watching movies. Check out these clips especially if you’ve seen the movies.

No Happy Endings

“The last act is tragic, however happy all the rest of the play is; at the last a little earth is thrown upon our head, and that is the end forever.” ~ Blaise Pascal

Well, maybe there are some happy endings but there are no guarantees. I saw Cloverfield the other night and thought that I’d make a few comments because it really got me thinking.

Most movies start off in a way that really sucks you in. Not so with Cloverfield. The first several minutes of the movie were very boring. They were boring because they were about real life. I won’t spoil the movie for you but let’s just say it was like watching somebody else’s home video. Not everybody’s cup of tea. But isn’t that strange? They make a movie about everyday life and it’s boring.

The second thing that I noticed about Cloverfield is that it doesn’t have a soundtrack. Unless I am completely mistaken, there is no music during the main portion of the movie. Of course, real life doesn’t have a soundtrack either unless you count MP3 players.

Finally, it should be pointed out that there isn’t a happy ending to this movie. Don’t worry, I won’t give it away. Life, of course, doesn’t come with the guarantee of a happy ending.

All in all, I think Cloverfield is a great movie. It’s a great monster movie and it can teach us a few things about life. Real life isn’t like a typical movie. Life has a slow, boring beginning, it has no soundtrack and the ending is often tragic. Yet, somehow it is still worth living.

Just something to think about.

Just Another Point of View?

I saw Vantage Point a couple weeks ago with some friends. I think it was a pretty good movie. Actually, it got me thinking about something interesting. The idea that we all have a point of view is pretty popular. The plot of Vantage Point plays off of this concept and I think we could learn a valuable lesson from it. Check out the trailer for it and then I’ll make some comments. Even if you’re not interested in the movie it is still an interesting way to consider this concept.

What is a point of view?

When somebody says, “that’s my point of view,” what do they mean by it? Well, I figure there are at least two things that they might mean. It might mean that it is just the way they see things. Of course seeing is used figuratively. We could just as easily say, “well, that’s my opinion about it,” or “that’s how I feel about it.” You see, the statement (or point of view) is more about the person than the subject being discussed or the object being viewed.

The other possibility is that it refers to the person’s limited knowledge or experience with the subject or object being discussed. When a person says, “that’s my point of view,” they may just as well say, “that’s my limited knowledge about it,” or “all I can say on the subject is _____, because that’s all I’ve experienced of it.”

Eight strangers, each with a different vantage point. Each with a piece of the puzzle.

If I’ve left you a little confused I think I can use the movie to make the point more clear. I think the movie illustrates the second option. Vantage Point opens with a major catastrophe. Eight complete strangers witness the event, but here is the key. They don’t all see the same parts and none of them see the whole event. Actually, it is impossible for each of them to witness the entire event because it really occurs in more than one place.

Now let’s notice what is happening here. They are eight people with different vantage points (points of view). They aren’t eight people with eight different opinions (that’s the first option I mentioned) about what happened. They are eight people who each witnessed a little bit of the event.

Notice that the movie very clearly states that they each have a piece of the puzzle. If their point of view was merely their opinion about what happened then it wouldn’t make sense to say that they each had a piece of the puzzle. When they put all the pieces (their opinions) together there won’t likely be a coherent picture. However, if their vantage point (or point of view) is what they saw happen, then when they put all the pieces together there will be a coherent picture. That of course is what is implied by the phrase each with a piece of the puzzle.

Truth. Lies.

What might any of this have to do with real life? When we say that somebody is telling the truth, don’t we mean that they are accurately telling us about the way things really are? And if we accuse somebody of lying, are we not saying that they are deceiving us about what really happened? When we ask for the truth or accuse somebody of lying, we aren’t asking for opinions, rather we’re talking about the way things really are.

Good. Evil.

When we talk about good and evil are we asking for an opinion on the subject? Well, it’s my opinion that murder is evil. But if you think that murder is okay then that’s fine with me. After all, everybody has their point of view don’t they? This is ridiculous, we all know that some things are right and others are wrong regardless of our opinion right?

Life. Death.

When it comes to the way that we live our lives we ought to be living on more than opinion. Opinions are often a good way to start, but if you don’t move beyond opinion and look for what is really real then what good is it in the end? Most people have opinions about what happens after death. Wouldn’t it be nice to have some concrete answers?

Eight Strangers. Eight Points of View. One Truth.

I’ll wrap this up with one last thing to think about. We often hear people say that religion is nothing more than blind faith, or perhaps opinion. After all, nobody can know everything about God. The world is full of different religions and because of this people tell us that each religion has a different point of view about God. Nobody has the full picture. What we need to do is put all of the pieces together (Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, New Age and all the rest) and see what it looks like. This actually sounds quite attractive at first glance. But I think there is a problem.

Let’s use the outline of the movie again. There are eight strangers, let’s say eight religions. Each person or religion has a different point of view. But here is where it breaks down. In the movie there is one event. Eight people see this event from different places. When you put all the stories together you get one coherent picture.

But what happens when you put all the different religions together? You end up with only one God, yet many gods. You end up with God and with no God. You end up with a guy named Jesus who says you only get salvation through me and you also get a guy named Muhammad who says that salvation only comes through Allah. In short, you end up with a big mess! All of these religions can’t possibly be true because they all contradict each other. They aren’t all describing the same God and just coming up with little pieces that make senses when they are all put together. They are all describing very different gods (or no gods at all).

If we have eight pieces of a puzzle that don’t match when we cram them together then let’s face it, we are using pieces from very different puzzles. It’s only when the pieces fit that things make sense.

Philosophy of Mind

Last year I took a course on Philosophy of Mind. When I’d tell my friends what I was studying they’d always ask ‘Philosophy of what?’ Then I’d stumble through some kind of explanation; probably leaving them more confused than before! Well now I’d like to offer an explanation and I think you’ll find the topic quite interesting, even if you find me to be quite boring. Stick with me.

As I was taking the course I happened to watch the movie I Robot. To my surprise I discovered that the movie is really all about philosophy of mind. Of course it has a healthy dose of action, humour and suspense as well.

So What is Philosophy of Mind?

Philosophy of mind discusses all of the interesting links between the brain and what we call the mind or the soul. Usually soul, spirit and mind are used interchangeably and refer to the immaterial part of us. Of course many people today think that humans don’t really have a soul. We’re basically just biological machines that live for a few decades and then go out of existence.

The Hard Problem of Consciousness

One of the toughest objections to the idea that humans are just biological machines (and soul-less) is what’s called the hard problem of consciousness. This problem basically asks ‘how is it that consciousness can arise out of something that is just matter?’ David Chalmers, a popular philosopher of mind, points out that, “human beings have subjective experience: there is something it is like to be them.” There is something different between us and a rock, or a can-opener. Chalmers asks, “how and why do physical processes give rise to experience? Why do not these processes take place ‘in the dark,’ without any accompanying states of experience?” This is the question that I Robot explores.

Robots are not like humans. They don’t have consciousness. There is nothing that it is like to be them. They have no knowledge they have no feelings. In the movie I Robot (I’ll try not to spoil the whole plot!) advanced robots have been created to do all the jobs that humans hate to do; as well as jobs that can be performed more efficiently by robots. Three critical laws have been hardwired into the robots so that they can only perform certain things. This prevents them from accidentally doing something horrible like killing a human.

The important thing to stress is that the robots are programmed. They don’t make decisions like humans do, they just do what they are programmed to do. They imitate freewill but they don’t really have it. As Detective Spooner (Will Smith) says, “These things are just lights and clockwork.”

What It’s Like to Be You

So the exciting part of the movie is that one of these robots somehow acquires a mind of its own. I mean a real mind; like yours. Another interesting topic that is debated in philosophy of mind is qualia. Qualia is the first person experience. It is the what it is like of an event. Whenever you do something or think something you have qualia. There is something that it is like to be thinking about chocolate, or stressing over an exam. Qualia are first person, private, conscious experiences. As important as my brain is, you can pull it apart and dissect it and you’ll never find qualia. They’re mine; and by definition, only mine!

The robot, Sonny, somehow gains consciousness and everybody is trying to figure out how. This is the hard problem of consciousness. As proof of it’s consciousness, sonny has all sorts of first person experiences; these are qualia. For example, Sonny asks “What am I?” He is self-reflecting. He asks what certain things mean. He says that he was frightened, and he expresses anger. He even claims to love his creator.

Dr. Lanning, the genius who created the high-tech robots, suggested that someday robots might naturally evolve. Many people think that humans have also evolved. But how then did we end up with consciousness? How do machines like Sonny, or biological machines like humans suddenly become conscious? This is the hard problem of consciousness!

The Soul

Of course many people don’t think that humans are merely biological machines. Many people still think that we have a soul. The soul will live beyond the death of our body. There are many problems to consider when we think about the soul and its relation to the body. If we do have a soul (I think we do) then consciousness isn’t a problem. Neither are qualia. One of the uncomfortable problems of the existence of the soul is that it kinda makes God’s existence necessary. That’s not uncomfortable to me but it is for many people. Anyway, hopefully I got you thinking more about this topic.

Summary

So this has been a short introduction to philosophy of mind. It is a huge subject and I have barely scratched the surface. Two things that I Robot illustrates are the hard problem of consciousness (how and why do physical processes give rise to experience?) and qualia (the what it is like of an event).

Check out the video below and read along with the transcript. It’s a great summary of the themes of the movie. Notice that the questions raised in the video have to do with the 1) hard problem of consciousness and 2) qualia. If humans are merely biological machines then you can just easily ask all of these questions of humans rather than robots.

There have always been ghosts in the machines…

Random segments of code that have grouped together to form unexpected protocols…

Unanticipated, these free radicals engendered questions of free will, creativity, and even the nature of what we might call the soul…

Why is it that when some robots are left in darkness, they will seek out the light?

Why is it that when robots are stored in an empty space, they will group together rather than stand alone?

How do we explain this behavior?

Random segments of code?

Or is it something more?

When does the perceptual schematic become consciousness?

When does the difference engine become the search for truth?

When does the personality simulation become the bitter moat of the soul?

Movie transcript from here.