- In the Nathaniel Hawthorne story "The Birth-mark," a man of science, Aylmer, is obsessed with perfecting his lovely wife, Georgiana, and in finally eradicating the one "blemish," (a small, red, hand-shaped mark on her cheek) he kills Georgiana...forcing her soul to leave her body. Based on the first and last paragraphs of the story on which I expounded in class, what "lesson" did Aylmer fail to learn as an intellectual and man of science? How does his lesson compare that the one that Liam Foxwell learns (or fails to learn)?
- How does the hypothetical "grain" in the show that records our individual histories differ from a ubiquitous computer-based virtual record of public events and personal histories, one that surrounds us this minute? Keep in mind social media archives, medical records, black-market software, exposed government documents, Google maps, etc. in answering this question.
- Can you think of any time that you obsessed over a physical imperfection in yourself or someone else? What reasons lie behind this concern with physical perfection?
- Can you think of a time when you relied on technology to solve a problem or mystery? How might you have solved the problem without technology?
*Notice that the titles of series are in italics and of episodes in quotes.
Based on the first and last paragraphs that you expounded upon in class in “The Birth-mark” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Aylmer failed to learn that human beings cannot be perfected into the perfect ideal. He also learned that you must choose love or science, but not necessarily both without some sort of compromise. Human beings are not meant to be perfect, and they never will be. This fact rings true also in the “Black Mirror” film you showed us in the last class where Liam Foxwell left his wife over her improper behavior. The “grains” embedded in every person’s brain allowed each person to be able to replay their experiences as “evidence” whenever they please, which allowed Liam to find out (and view) his wife cheating on him with another man. Liam Foxwell ended up removing his grain, and he learns (along with the lesson Aylmer learns), that human beings cannot be perfected, and it is better to live with the subtle imperfections that allow us to be human beings.
ReplyDeleteThe “grain” within the film differs from our current internet records substantially. The internet houses public knowledge and videos from a recorder’s point of view, but not a step-by-step live-action recording of every moment of every person’s lives. Medical records, government documents, GPS, and many different sources of information is very revealing and disregards privacy in a sense, but none of those are a 100% surveillance of a person’s entire life. The “grain” fails to respect any sort of privacy, and it is inescapable. We can at least escape our own personal information being on the internet as much as we can (we do not HAVE to have a social network or videos online), but our medical records and such are not readily available online, most are just stored in private databases. The internet is a public database rather than a personal database.
I have not obsessed over a physical imperfection in myself or anybody else, and I find this to be a very personal question that I do not feel comfortable posting on a public blog, but a human being should not obsess over physical imperfections in other people. It is what is inside your mind that matters, and the outside should not matter. As for myself, I try not to dwell on imperfections I cannot change, and I build up my personality instead.
I have relied on technology to solve a problem regarding finding an old best friend. My best friend had lost contact with me several years ago, and through the internet (and a lot of searching, apparently she had gotten married in the past 10 years), I found her Facebook from halfway across the country! Without the internet I probably would have had to wait until hopefully she visited the area, or never have found her. If I could not have used the internet to research her (I found her through a family member), I do not think I honestly would have found her at all, and we would not have been reunited.
In the Black Mirror episode Liam Foxwell becomes aware of an affair between his wife and a man named Jonas. The gain(memory chip) implanted in Liam’s head is the reason why he notices and is capable of answering his doubts about his marriage. If Liam did not have the grain implanted I do not believe he would have been able to prove that his wife was cheating on him because his brain would not be able to access the memories he used to solve the puzzle; in a vivid manner. In the Nathaniel Hawthorne story “The Birth-Mark” a scientist(Aylmer) kills his wife when he tries to remove her birth mark; her one imperfection. In both cases Liam and Aylmer fail to learn a important lesson. The lesson they fail to learn is that obsessing over something almost always results in a bad ending. Technology was invented for the purpose of solving problems but it has come to make us obsessed with perfection. I have personally found myself up all night searching the web for answers to random thoughts that have flowed through my head. The next day I wake up with hardly any sleep and not much smarter because of the obsession over facts that are truly not that important. I would not blame Liam or Aylmer in either story from their harsh ending but rather the technology that has almost forced them to react in the ways that they did.
ReplyDeleteJoseph Ledo-Massey
Demetrius A. Jones
ReplyDeleteMark Shealy
ENC 1102
February 16, 2015
The Entire History Of You
In the story the "Birth Mark" the setting is very important for my opinion of what lesson Aylmer learns. The setting takes place where even the most intellectual philosophers and scientists were still in the early stages of a deeper understand of medicine verses trying to play God. Without the full understanding of the physical being and soul relationship Aylmer learners that play or tampering with this relationship is impossible. I believe the relationship and lesson that is shared with Liam and Aylmer is playing God or having God like memory ad an imperfect race is always disastrous. The difference between the "Grain" and a computer based archive is that these events generally stored on computers is usually less personal or intimate recordings. However, with the leaks on computer based recordings it is easy to compare taping into ones own personal memory bank so easily and that information being leaked or looked into much farther then was intended. I cannot remember a time obsessing over a physical imperfection of someone else's. I however, was raised around gyms. My father owned and managed several facilities throughout my childhood so the installation of a self image was in me at a very young age. Although, I have never been morbidly obese there will always be a mental struggle to look better and eat healthier. With media constantly showing a healthy appearance on television it is no wonder why myself and other like minded individuals obsess to fit into society physically. My legal state of blindness has made it much more difficult to rely on anything but technology to solve mysteries. In fact in American Government I am using a wide array of web and video citations to write a paper on new world order and conspiracy theories. Without technology this paper would be a complete nightmare. I rely on the handicap software to learn and research almost everything.
In the story, "The Birth-Mark" by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Aylmer fails to differentiate his love for science and his love for Georgiana. He should have kept his work life and his love life separate. Instead, he obsessed over Georgianas' birth-mark to the point of no return. He cared so much about removing the birth-mark, by using his scientific potions that he was proud of, that he ended up killing his true love, his wife. I think this compares to Liam Foxwell, in the show "Black Mirror", by obsessing to much over the grain device's power, that he also ended up losing what he loved most in his life. Everyone has skeletons in their closet, some more worse than others, but people change and I truly believe that he pushed his wife away by revealing those skeletons (her past hookup with Jonas). The grain has its differences when being compared to social media and other media outlets that store our data for most of society to view. One is that, in social media, we are not sure where that information is being stored and who all behind the scenes can access that information. Also, the grain is removable. If you need to erase something on the grain before you would want someone else to see it, you have that option; with other records some or most of that information is permanent. I personally obsess over my skin, mainly my face, being red all the time. People always think I am sunburnt, which gives me an excuse, but most of the time that's not the reason. I once had to rely on the app "find my iphone". I accidentally left my phone at a bar and knew exactly where I left it, came back 20 minutes later to find my phone missing and no one sitting in the spot where I did leave it. I never thought I would ever have to use the app, but it was on my phone, so I figured I would give it a shot. I called the sheriffs department, they went over to the house it was at, and arrested the guy. Technology saved me about $300 that day. If someone out there would have never invented that app or had there not been a gps on my phone, that person would have had nothing to worry about except karma.
ReplyDeleteIn “The Birth-mark” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Alymer fails to learn that there is no such thing as the “perfect” person and that flaws are evident in ever being. Alymer let his obsession for seeking perfection control him, but in the end he lost the love of his life. This compares to Liam Foxwell in the show “Black Mirror” because his excessive behavior for finding the truth also made him lose the love of his life. If Liam would not have had the grain embedded into him, he would not have found out that his wife had cheated on him. Liam was able to dig deeper and deeper into his stored memories to discover the truth about his wife, but once this was done he takes out his grain. By taking out his grain, this shows that Liam has learned that the imperfection of not being able to remember everything is better than being able to remember everything perfectly. The grain differs from computer-based records and personal histories because with the grain you are able to recall more than just facts. The grain allows you to feel the same feelings you felt at that exact memory. The grain is much more subjective compared to personal records. This may be silly, but I seem to obsess over bad teeth. Especially if someone is willing and able to take care of their teeth, but choose not to. I feel this way because I think a smile is a very important part of making a good impression. Proper hygiene of your teeth also shows that you’re able to take care of yourself. Technology helps me solve problems every day. Most of those problems reside in school work. It’s amazing how much students rely on the internet to complete assignments. If the technology was not available, I would use what still is the best way to learn, books!
ReplyDelete-Karis Ederer
1.In the story “The Birth Mark”, Aylmer (husband of Georgiana) has difficulty with accepting imperfection. Georgiana has a nickel sized mark in the shape of hand upon her left cheek. Aylmer being the scientist he is, tried several experiments to perfect his wife and rid of her flaws. In the end, Georgiana is killed from Aylmer’s last experiment; her soul is forced to leave her body. Aylmer failed to look beyond Georgiana’s imperfections and love her natural beauty. In comparison Liam Foxwell also goes through a series of steps to learn his wife was indeed cheating on him. 2. Foxwell has a grain installed behind his ear that gives him the ability to remember and review events in his life. Foxwell uses this memory chip to study his wife’s behavior at a dinner party talking to a man named Jonas and discovers chemistry between the two. Without the “grain”, Foxwell likely would not have discovered the affair his wife was having. Today, we have media devices that capture the past to help us remember important events in our lives. Our present devices are not as high tech as the grain unfortunately. 3. I believe everyone struggles with physical imperfection with themselves or others; reasons behind this issue always depend on the person. 4. I rely on technology heavily when I need to inform my self on a topic I am unfamiliar with, whether it be school or social.
ReplyDelete- Sidney Freeman
1. In Nathanial Hawthorne’s story “The Birth-Mark,” Alymer, the scientist, fails to understand imperfections. He goes to very extensive lengths to make his wife perfect. He wants her to have no imperfections which is just not realistic. His wife, Georgiana, ends up paying the consequences and loses her life to his obsession with perfection. Liam Foxwell from “Black Mirror,” experienced almost the same loss. He caught so caught up about a certain memory it ruined the relationship with his wife. 2. The “grain” is embedded in every individual’s heads, giving them the capabilities of searching through their memories and past events. At any given moment they can connect the “grain” to any monitor and play back memories. Liam has suspicions his wife is cheating on him and relies on his grain to uncover the truth. He plays back the same memories over and over trying to unlock evidence. In real life, yes you can relive memories in your head but that does not mean they are completely detailed and true. His wife was in the wrong for not telling him but also he essentially went crazy with all the replaying he was doing. 3. A physical imperfection that sounds very petty but also makes me nervous is split ends. I am a firm believer in frequent trimming. I have always had long hair but I do cut it a lot to ensure my ends are not dry and ratty. It is one of the first few things I notice with meeting someone new. It could look very professional or the complete opposite. 4. In August, I went to a music festival in Atlanta with four of my closest friends. Our hotel was about a 10 minute drive away from the venue which was very good for us. Little did we know hailing a taxi at midnight along with 10,000+ other people was not an easy task. We ended up having to walk using the gps that was programmed on my friend’s phone since ours were all dead and she had 5%. It was easily one of the most dangerous things I have done without technology we would've needed a physical map, which don’t see like a common item to bring to a music festival.
ReplyDelete--Natalie Diciaula
1.I think Alymer fails to realize that no one is perfect. This makes me believe that he thinks he is perfect and that is why Georgiana’s mark was so appalling to him. His obsession with her mark and trying to make her perfect led to everyone’s downfall. Georgiana died and he is now miserable because he doesn’t have the love of his life anymore. Liam Foxwell also let his obsession get the better of him. Dying to know the truth, he drove his wife away. They both failed to learn how to control their obsessions and how to not make them the primary motivator for their life. 2. I think the grain in the show Black Mirror is obviously different because of the way we access it. There was no mention of having to pay for it other than being able to purchase more memory space. But I do think the grain allows you to recall exact details. Over time, we tend to forget things that might not be that important to a story and we can unwillingly fill in details we think are true. With the grain, there is not debating if something happened or not because you can see if as it happened. 3. I try to not focus on physical imperfections, but it is something that we all do. If I had to pick, I guess I would focus on what the person is wearing. Not necessarily the name brand, but I think what you wear reveals your character. You wouldn’t go to a job interview wearing flip flops and a t-shirt. 4. I relied on technology to figure out how to get to Pensacola. If I didn’t have it, I would have had to suffer through trying to figure out how to use a map.
ReplyDeleteChristopher Bijou
In “The Entire History of You”, Liam Foxwell becomes obsessed with the idea of his wives infidelity which causes their relationship to spiral downward. This is similar to Aylmer in “The Birth-mark” and his obsession with the perceived “flaw” on his wife. For both of them, the inability to learn that obsessing over things will always end poorly has very severe consequences.
ReplyDeleteThe grain that records every moment of life is quite different than any technology that is readily available right now. However, with the way technology is progressing, it is conceivable to imagine that we may have something like it in the future. Right now there is nothing that is able to record from first person nonstop, which is probably a good thing. Medical records and black market software are close, but are not on the level of the grains. The episode showed how technology like that can destroy people’s lives.
Obsessing over physical imperfections is a complete waste of time. It is simply unhealthy to devote a large amount of thought and attention to imperfections and can have negative side effects. In particular if the imperfection is not something that can be fixed, obsessing does not have a point.
Technology helps me solve countless problems throughout my day. From forgetting the name of a band to organizing important plans, technology serves as an invaluable tool. Many things would be much more difficult or inconvenient without technology, so I am thankful for it.
Allison McDowell
In both The Black Mirror and The Birth-Mark, the protagonists are undermined by the insatiable desire of human perfection, particularly their spouses. In The Black Mirror, Foxwell fails to realize the impossibility of human perfection. His obsession with his wife's past sexual encounters with a man named Jonas causes problems with his wife and eventually leads to him tearing out his receptor. I feel that Foxwell failed to realize the distinction between past and present because of The Grain. The reason this was so emotional and difficult for Foxwell to deal with lies in the fact that The Grain projects the image real-time. The real-time projection can be confusing for humans because it brings the past into reality rather than just an imagined situation. The Grain debilitates peoples ability to lie and hide things because of the memory's everlasting impression on the user. This is different from modern social media of our world because people can hide things and project themselves in false or abstract ways using social media like Facebook and Twitter. I think the underlying instigation of physical perfectionism is social dominance and subsequently conformism. Last but not least, I have thoroughly relied on technology in my life and will continue to do so as long as it remains more convenient than the alternatives. Google happens to be one of the more useful technologies.
ReplyDeleteDaniel Dearing
In both situations the desire for perfection lies in the middle. In "The Birthmark" Alymer expects unreachable perfection from his spouse to the point that she becomes too perfect for life on Earth. In the Black Mirror the main character Liam Foxwell becomes obsessed with the possible affair that his wife is suspected to have with an ex. Through the use of the grain placed within him, he is able to discover the truth and learn of his wives ugly past. In both cases, the ending results in heart ache and pain for the men opposed to their once desired perfection and happiness. For Liam Foxwell, the memory made it much more painful for him because he could view it at any moment, recreating the sadness that he had felt when he first viewed it. I believe that in a way social media today can be somewhat compared to the technology used in both instances. What is posted online can be altered greatly and will remain forever, capable to always be reviewed by all who wish to. We all have small insecurities that we think about from now and them. I have shared some of these insecurities as well, but have never found myself really obsessing over them or anyone else's flaws. I try to direct my thoughts to the best in people, and focus more on the personality rather than the body they live in. Technology has helped me in several times in my life. I use it almost everyday to get answers to in simple questions. While on a road trip with my friends to Music Midtown I relied on technology to get me everywhere I wanted to be. By simply downloading an App I was able to get a taxi anywhere I was in a timely manner. I believed that most of the technologies that are apparent today are more beneficial than destructive.
ReplyDeleteIn the “The Birth-Mark” Alymer goes to great lengths in order to make his wife Georgina perfect. He expects her to be one-hundred percent perfect which is almost impossible. When he tries to take off the blemish on her face; he kills her and loses her forever. In the “Black Mirror”, Liam goes into great lengths to try and figure out the past relationship between his wife and Jonas. When Liam does this, it ruins the relationship he had with his wife. The “grain” is a small chip that is placed behind the individual’s ear that plays back any memory you want. This feature allows you to access any memory at any given time. In real life, we can look up old events, but they may not always be right. While in the movie he can look up any event at any minute. One physical imperfection I can think of is I always want everything done perfectly. It makes it where I cannot get everything done that I need to because I take long periods of time on things that should only take five minutes. I rely on technology when I am traveling from one place to another. If I did not have my gps I would have no idea where to go when traveling to a specific place.
ReplyDelete-Stephen Stroop
I think this video had a lot to do with modern technology and it's impact on our lives, which we blogged about recently. The "grain" that was implanted into everyone's head has a lot of pro's and con's to its use. In this story Liam was able to use this new technology to find out that his wife was having an affair and he was able to find out the truth that his kid may not actually be his. I think that this was a good use of the "grain" and that it had a positive key role in finding out the truth in Liam's circumstance. But on the negative side of the "grain" I think that this modern piece of technology could also invade on our personal rights. In the beginning of this video it showed Liam traveling to the airport where a TSA officer was able to view back into his history for about 32-48 hours prior before entering the airport. I felt as if this was an invasion of his personal privacy even though it wasn't necessarily a bad thing. With the increase in technology I think we will have problems with overstepping our personal rights and freedoms. But on the contrary I believe that as technology rapidly advances it will be more beneficial than harmful for us.
ReplyDelete-Ryan Kay
In “The Birthmark,” Alymer becomes obsessed with one minute flaw on his wife. He spends his time thinking about it and wants to remove it, in order to make Georgiana “perfect.” Alymer failed to realize that perfection is impossible. He failed to learn that some things are best kept as they are and should not be messed with. Liam is a little similar to Alymer in the fact that he becomes obsessed with something small until it ruins his life. He gets a small impression that his wife is having an affair with Jonas and replays his memories over and over, making his obsession worse until he finally uncovers the truth. The “grain” is not much different than a computer-based virtual record other than the fact that it is implanted in the person’s head. Both keep track of records and events and both can reviewed at later times. I can think of several times when I have obsessed over a physical imperfection. I have only been made fun of for having a larger nose a couple of times but now I am constantly thinking about how it looks from certain angles and how big or small it looks in pictures. I am also constantly thinking about my stomach and thighs and how big they look. I think about these things because I am uncomfortable with my physical appearance.
ReplyDelete*Megan McNeely
Technology is something everyone, my generation especially, relies on a daily basis now. I constantly need to use my phone to look up addresses and get directions. If I didn’t have my phone I would’ve used a map, but that can be more complicated and distracting for a driver. There have been many times where I’ve been too distracted by one of my imperfections. But probably the most ridiculous scenario was when I begged my mom to let me dye my hair. Fortunately she never let me and now I appreciate my hair color. What probably lead me to that concern was the idea that to be beautiful you needed to look like most of the other girls did. My concern could relate to Aylmer’s obsession of removing Georgiana’s mark. The birth mark was a part of who she was, and Aylmer failed to realize that even with advancing science, you can never achieve perfection. This obsession connects to Liam’s dilemma in the way that technology or science is not always the way of solving a problem. If Liam had found out on his own he may have handled it differently, with less destruction. Then again he may have never found out at all. The grain is different from our modern technology by capturing every single moment of our lives. People use social media and other sites to pick and choose what they want other people to see. I think our modern technology is often more helpful than detrimental, but the use of the grain could be potentially dangerous.
ReplyDeleteIn the “Black Mirror” the “grain” inserted behind the individual’s ear gave them the opportunity to replay/record any activities in their everyday life. I believe the grain can be used for good and bad, such as reminiscing old time and stuff like that is ok, but the whole fact of a microchip inserted into my brain really irks me because the government can use that for their advantage and intrude on my privacy.. I believe even without the grain inserted in his head he still wouldn’t have approached the situation as so, the grain gave him a huge advantage to be able to help solve his mystery and with the use of Jonas and his Wife’s grain as well. In the “Birthmark” Almyer fails to learn the lesson about happiness and to accept life as is, in the Black mirror Liam learns the lesson about investigating into his relationship and eventually ruins due to his wife having an affair. I feel like my physical imperfection is that I take everything so serious and sometimes it can get the best of me in what I focus or learn. I rely on technology mostly for social media and music, the only time I use technology for my advantage is if I’m travelling and I’m going to places unknown or heavy traffic so I can take back roads.
ReplyDelete-Hampton Schaffer
In "The Birthmark" Aylmer failed to learn that nothing, and no one, is perfect, or can be perfect. If Aylmer was able to remove the birthmark without Georgina dying, there would have likely been evidence that a surgical procedure was conducted in order to remove her blemish. Of course Aylmer learned his lesson the hard way, unfortunately at the expense of his wife. However, Liam's issue was not an issue of perfection, it was the issue of loyalty, seeing that his wife cheated on him. All Liam wanted was answers, "the grain" was the tool he used to find the answers, I believe the grain helped Liam in the long-run by getting him out of a bad relationship, however he had to remove the grain in order to forget those horrible memories. His life was really a lie up until the point he got to the bottom of his situation (of course, excluding his life up until the relationship began), he was married to a woman who did not really love him, raising a child that was not his when thought it was, working a job he seemingly hated, and "friends" he loathed to be around. The grain differs from social media in the way that you choose what to put up on social media, or do not put up, if you are like me you do not post everything about your life, especially not the hurt and pain, just the good. The only technology I use that helps me tremendously (even more so than a computer sometimes), is a GPS, is speeds up my ability to find a place that I have not been to.
ReplyDelete-Shane Parent`
In the Black Mirror Episode, Liam Foxwell took his investigation to extreme measures. Disregarding his justification, I believe that he would have discovered something was different even without the “grain”. The human mind can often sense things that we are not acutely aware of. Had he not had the neuro-record of the interaction between his wife and the other man, he would still likely have seen something was off. In “the Birthmark” the scientist failed to learn that imperfections make individuals what they are. A lack of imperfection creates something plain, and rather ordinary. If someone acts exactly like you expect them to, it takes all the excitement out of life. Liam Foxwell learns this lesson as well. There is a certain argument that his wife didn’t necessarily cheat on him, however Liam only sees the lies and broken trust. Had he given it thought or not analyzed every interaction he had. He would have detected something but rather allowed his wife to tell him about it naturally. The grain, records everything at all times. There seemed to be no function to disable it, even temporarily. This differs from the current form of media, In the present the average person has a level of control over what video is taken of them. In the show, it seems you must assume you are always on camera.
ReplyDelete-Josh McGlone
As a man of science you would think that Alymer would have learned to leave nature alone. Just because something is unappealing to our human eye doesn't mean that it isn't designed to be perfect just the way it is. Liam doesn't see how technology has dictated his life. He constantly doubts his relationship which causes him to live in the past constantly rewinding old memories and scrutinizing every portion of them. We have already given up our personal space and dignity by allowing our most intimate moments to be captured either by accident or on purpose by strangers that we may never see. The use of webcams and cellphones have allowed an unprecedented amount of our intimate lives to be exposed for the entire world to see whenever they want. There are apps that will allow you to remotely listen to other peoples conversations and view what they're doing through their cellphones without them even knowing you were there. It's scary to think that technology this precious is in the hands of people who don't have your best interest in mind. I once dated a guy with a crooked tooth. I hated it and in turn I grew to hate him because of it. He was tainting my idea of the perfect guy and I just couldn't have it. Looking back on how young and foolish I was I am almost embarrassed by it but maturity has led me to see the good in everyone. Growing up in an age where cellphones are the common communication I feel like I am spoiled. I couldn't imagine having to sit and write out long detailed letters to my friends and family to update them on my travels. The idea of sitting and writing multiple letters seems so primitive when you compare it to the modern way of letter writing, emails.
ReplyDeleteI believe that in both stories, the intense drive for perfection is what cause a disastrous ending. They both feature a character who is constantly trying to find something wrong. Sometimes the truth is better left unsaid. Both characters ( the scientist and Liam) try to see the bad in the situation and if they weren't such pessimists the situation wouldn't have seemed so negative. Technology makes it easier to create a fight or challenge because there's so much documented proof. I have been in countless situations where texts or screenshots were served as justification.
ReplyDeleteAngela Beabout
I believe that in both stories, the intense drive for perfection is what cause a disastrous ending. They both feature a character who is constantly trying to find something wrong. Sometimes the truth is better left unsaid. Both characters ( the scientist and Liam) try to see the bad in the situation and if they weren't such pessimists the situation wouldn't have seemed so negative. Technology makes it easier to create a fight or challenge because there's so much documented proof. I have been in countless situations where texts or screenshots were served as justification.
ReplyDeleteAngela Beabout
I found this to be very erotic . An awkward boner indeed
ReplyDelete