Lives of Others

So I'm not going to lie Alan, when you first told us about this movie, I thought it would be lame. But surprisingly enough, I really really loved the movie. It was so intersesting. It showed some actually realistic history and also had an appealing plot to it. Obviously not based on a true story, it had true element, which I love. I hate those movies that you can tell are totally made up and fake. Even though most of the stuff that was reflected realistically to the separation of Berlin I already knew, I was rather intrigued. Most people don't realize how it was such a hardship. People really were blacklisted to never ever work again with no reason behind it, such as the director Jerska. His most memorable line in the movie being so honest, "If a director cannot direct, what is he?" The truth is that this movie only showed a small effect that this movement had on all of Germany, let alone Eastern Berlin at the time. I didn't really understand why the Stasi were watching Dreyman in the first place. It kind of was not really fair how they began surveillance for no reason and then could use something that they weren't for in the first place, against Dreyman. Overall, I feel like everybody got what they deserved except for, Jerska and that nasty Minister Hempf. I feel like Dreyman deserved to put out the ideas he believed and still be able to use his talent of directing. However, it was so wrong that Wiesler, the Stasi captain, although never proved guilty, was still blacklisted for supposedly being an accomplice. In the end he was recognized for his good, not just punished for his "wrong."

Zimmer Chp 5 & 6

When reading chapters 5 and 6 of Zimmer's Origin of the Mind, it gave me an insight how many types of human classifications lead up to the homo-sapiens that we know today. Classification lead from the way the thumb was positioned on the hand to how straight the hominid walked during his time. Zimmer also showed pictures in how long and different skeletal bones were during those times. That lead Zimmer to talk about how mother nurtured there youngs and how chimpanzees seemed similar in nurturing there offspring. The tools that were used in that time were found all over continents making it show that these hominids were able to travel in groups to capture the food resources that they needed to survive. Also over time their bodies show that they changed to accommodate the harsh climate changes.

Paleoanthropologists also today rely on "reconstruction" to continue the study of these hominids. They collect unburied skulls and use tools take continue building whats missing from the facial features on the skull. The mentor session, I think, that taught this group led discussion did great in teaching what needed to be learned from these articles; made everything come together.

The Lives of Others

I really liked the movie, The Lives of Others. I missed the first class but I think I still understood what happened and the transformation that Wiesler went through (the recap at the beginning of the class helped). I think that it was really interesting to see a world in which people seem to have the everyday problems that we have, but they also have so much more to worry about on top of that. What I first saw of the movie was the part where the apartment was being bugged and Wiesler threatened Dreyman's neighbor about her daughter's education. I think that the transformation that Wiesler went through shows a lot about human nature and how it can change due to circumstance and the environment around you. When I was watching to movie I wondered if the transformation still would have happened if he had had a different, less corrupt and cruel boss showing him first hand how messed up and in the wrong the governnment was. I think that Christa-Maria's situation was relevant to our human nature course because although she loved Dreyman enough to stop seeing Hempf, in the end she still turned him in to save herself which shows the dog eat dog mentality of the world. I think that it was a good movie to show and I've already been able to relate it to other courses that I'm taking and ones that I've taken previously.

Jenny S.

Lives of Others

I enjoyed the movie very much. The movie allowed the viewer to see how absolutely crazy that system was. What I find interesting is that they didn't accept failure when trying to catch someone for whatever they found to be a crime. The reward for catching someone for being unloyal, especially if that person were a high ranking person, was a great one. The society lost a very essential thing in life, trust. They could no longer believe in the good will of human beings because everyone, men, women, and children, could not be trusted. The environment is a good example of how peoples lives can be shaped by what is around them. A lot of people really enjoyed reporting people because the society viewed it as a good thing if you caught someone, guilty or not. Once the Berlin wall fell, I am sure a lot of people snapped back to their normal selves and could hardly believe what they had done. This ties in well with the subject of nature or nurture. Some people were subject to their surrounding, and some people were subject to their nature. I believe it's a possibility that both nature and nurture help develope people. It's not absolutely one or the other, but a combination.

Andrew VanHorn

Lives of Others redux

Hey, I know you guys are focused on turkey, the Saints and that looming Chem final.... but one entry on the movie from two classes? I don't see a lot of movies in the future in this class unless I see some evidence of cognitive engagement

Conundrums of Culture

"It was he who most forcibly planted the idea that culture is what sets people free from their nature."

I found this article very interesting because it controdicted my research I had done for my research paper. In multiple books by Jane Goodall it was stated that chimpanzees, depending on where they are living, actually have differeing cultural customs. For instance one group of chimpanzees may make sitting cushions out of large leaves, but another cultural group have not been observed doing the same. This may show us that culture is just not a human behavior, but may have been around far longer than humans existed.

Courtney Timms

Language

The language readings were all very interesting. The video in class tried to explain the similarities in languages. It showed that most languages had words or spellings in common,eventhough the countries are not close together.
One of the readings explained the way we classify words. In english, a chair is associated with a piece of furnature. In African languages it would go with power, such as a throne.Animals are classified by their funtion and in english they are classified by age.Language is classified in the way we look at things.