Brave New Education...

I would love to know why that video was so intriguing, haha. That guy had a very good presentation and I felt he had very good points people don't always think of.

I like that the speaker was able to draw out the fact that education was created for a different time. Like it is said in the video, how can you say that just because you are the same age you are at the same level of education? While the school system has reasons for the way it is set up, it does not work for today's world. You cannot classify students under the same level of education just because they are the same age. Also, his reference to ADHD was very interesting as well. ADHD is looked at as an 'epidemic', even though we seem to overexaggerate. He brings up an interesting point in saying that we are essentially "drugging" children with ADHD, and making them almost robots in school.

I definitely find many parallels with Brave New World and this video. Like I just mentioned, children that are diagnosed with ADHD are drugged and treated as though they just need medicine to mute their disorder. I feel that Brave New World is in a way the same. They genetically engineered the people to make them content with how they are, except their creativity is destroyed within the process. In Brave New World, they say "And that, put in the director sententiously, "that is the secret of happiness and virtue-liking what you've got to do. All conditioning aims at that: making people like their inescapable social destiny." Ch. 1. I believe the children have no control over how they are controlled in a school environment, which in ways is similar. People in Brave New World have no control over the people they have become, since they are engineered to like whatever environment they are placed in.

Overall I definitely liked what this speaker had to say and enjoyed connecting the text we are reading to what he had to say.

Brave New World

Okay so first off I am just going to say how thankful I am that we are past The Tempest and on to something new! Okay now I can start. :P

From what I have read of Brave New World, it is becoming apparent the kind of world the people live in. People are genetically engineered by machines and people to be built for different purposes. In the first chapter, Mr Foster states "We decant our babies as socialized human beings, as Alphas or Epsilons, as future sewage workers or future..." The children that are genetically engineered are used for different social purposes. Mr. Foster continues on in saying, "The lower the caste... The shorter the oxygen." With the lower caste genetically engineered embryo they expose it to less oxygen so it is used to being in the conditions under which job it will work.

The people that are engineered in the book seem to be of no importance, they are just used by society to make things run smoothly. The book even states the fact that the people believe procreation to be a waste and inefficient to their purpose in survival.

The quote you wanted us to explain shows that there is someone needed for every task, and they must have people designed to work under each job and profession.

The Tempest never gets old... Not.

In discussions of The Tempest, one controversial issue has been whether or not there is a specific political interpretation to be taken from the writing. On the one hand, critics argue that the main focus on The Tempest is based on Imperialism (or any other specific interpretation for that matter). On the other hand, other critics argue that this interpretation of the text has been taken way too far out of context. Others even maintain neutral in their thoughts, believing that it could go either way. However, my own view is that to say the interpretation of The Tempest to be focused on imperialism is far too much of a stretch. Like I talked about it my last blog posting, I believe too often critics over analyze works of writing. Not all authors write a book or novel with a specific almost "hidden" interpretation, they just write to write. I believe it is unrealistic to say that Shakespeare wrote The Tempest with a basis on Imperialism. I take George Will's view in saying that "Critics displace literature and critics displace authors as bestowers of meaning." You cannot just say that a piece of writing has a certain meaning, and that the meaning it has was specifically written by the author. Lots of times it seems that critics and readers can make their own interpretation of the text and believe it to be the author's intention. I think critics and readers need to stop over analyzing works of writing and focus more on the interpretation they personally took away from the story.

And that is my two cents!

**Oh by the way I was absent, hence why this is late.