matt weissman’s blog

Luckman - House: Need for abstract time - purpose of abstract time

Luckman - Holt: Categories, large or small - Where do we belong, the category of the world, nation, states, city, etc. How does is define us?

Luckman - LeGoff: The role of social history, how does it define us, place us, create social hierarchy, allow for a mechanisitic society that is leading toward mechanization - destroying the labels?

I keep changing my topic...this essay especiallly has so many different themes and yet they all seem so connected.  Anyways, Im comparing temporal time france during the novel to that of the french revolution, arguing that no change has occurred in the way time is structured.  Robesspierre said during the reign of terror that the end justifies the means, which really turned everday into a witch hunt - spreading corruption through pointless murders and immoral accusations.  With this, chaos spread as there really was no sense of justice.  Everything is essentially about the botton line, where the middle, intermediary passage bears no significance.  It does not matter what happens in between, but rather the imporatnce lies in the conlcusion.  Is the death of a perosn justifiable? Is it justified to kill or lie to cure an ailing problem, protect one's honor, or simply for some greater selfish purpose? These are all very subjective, and yet all revolve around the corruption within the society.  All of the characters illustrate that killing is seemingly justfiable to complete these tasks that they deem important.  As a result, the human life is trivialized and devalued as something that is expendable, much like machines that serve a purpose and then discarded.  However, the irony of the situation exists in that the justification for the notion that the end justifies the means is that the outcome will be worth any injustice that occurs during that middle process, however the end is NOT ultimately justified since all actions are done in the pursuit of happiness, and yet no one in the novel actually achieves any sense of happiness through their actions.

I think i may be trying to fit too much into one thesis. 

Today I got a headache.  I feel that sickness is going around as many people in my dorm suite have some sort of illness. I noticed that with my headache, every sound seemed to be increased tremendously, and time passed very slowly.  I was very aware of everything around, i think since i was extra sensative to what was normal.  Time definitely differs dependent on the person: it is relative.  With disabilities, sickness, or other factors, we experience time in very different ways, as we do take notcie more or less of how fast/slow time passes, and also of our surroundings based on our senses.

I saw Babel for the second time today with Jocelyn.  This year, this movie has been one of my favorites since it exhibits a complex yet contemporarily valid message than ressonates long after I've left the theatre.  The plot surrounds an ensemble of characters in four very different yet subtly connected situations that must deal with a lack of communication locally as well as globally.  I found this idea to be similar to last weeks idea of rationalization and coordination of time, however the idea here shifts to language.  The overall connection lies in the lack of how the world today is disconnected and fragmented.  Much like time, a sense of abstract structure is needed in order for miscommunication to become less apparent.  The movie shows this by having characters that are both disconnected through a language barrier, as well as some internal barrier that blocks communication simply through some emotional strife.  Overall, the character that resognated with me most was the Japanese girl, Chieko, whose mother had commited suicide recenly, and is facing the obstacles and prejudices of being a deaf-mute, or simply differnt from what is considered normal.  In addition, her father ignores her, and she cannot find anyone to genuinely care for her because of her disability.  As a result, she rebels in self-destructive manner of promiscuous behavior the screams for love and attention.  Her character becomes so real as she is disconnected through a lack of communication since she cannot speak/hear, but also because her father does not fill a void of lonliness, even with being right there in front of her.  Her emotional plea for help brought tremendous emotions that showed how important it is to stay connected.  We need to have better communication in the world in order to better ourselves as a society.  Babel illustrates this idea as a critique of globalizationt and the extent of which we need to work on in the future. 

Today was Valentine's day. I was just thinking about this comercial holiday and how it has been used as an excuse to buy gifts, candy, etc... However, i realize that the holiday is really about showing the people that are important to you that you care about them.  I think that we often take for granted the people we deem "special" in our lives. Time goes by when we are preoccupied and we dont realize that expressing how we feel is truly important for the validation of others.  Valentines day doesnt just have to be about relationships.  It can carry validations of important friendships, or simply for anyone that you care about. Most importantly, time has many differnt functions in that it is relative to our lives, depending upon what our focus is.  There is school time, homework, fun, eating...there are so many differnt intervals of time that sometimes, we forget the most important thingsin our lives.  The people that we care for, and the people that care for us,

I am finding it difficult to relate my second essay topic to time.  The transition from pre-industrial to post-industrial modernism has an omnipresent shift in time, with the devaluization of tradition, but this sense of time shift is not concrete.  Money and wealth became the prime target, forgetting duty to one's family, using the war to make money with no motivating factor for your country to win other than lack of profits.  What also arises is the new sense of self, blended with tradition.  Traditionally, it was a part of japaneese culture to work toward your potential, to simplt be the best you can be and make a prestigious name of yourself.  however, this process has to be done honestly through hard work, regarding the abstract ideal of harmony.  Friendship and kindness were of the utmost importance, as they kept harmony grounded. The movie showed this through Mine and Yuki's relationship where the mill owner used competition to destroy this sense of harmony.  When one girl made a name for herself for being an expert silk weaver, another was punished for producing less.  As a result, sense of morality was lost since these traditions were exploited in order to get the girls to work.  Anyways, back to the topic...connecting to time on a greater scale.  Time allowed for these changes to occur, but that idea is too broad. A change in temporal time occurred because industrialization caused the focus on artisan work to dissapear, and transformed the culture into machine time.

It seems that there is never enough time to do everything I want to do.  I want to go to class, finish all assignments, papers, studying, work part time, and still have fun to hang out with friends.  However, there never is enough time to accomplish all of this,  Something has to be sacraficed or overlooked in order to accomplish the most important.  I think I seperate it with the tasks I know have to be completed, and the tasks that could be completed but are not as important,  Work I know is mandatory as a comitment, so i have to attend that regardless.  Homework is generally optional, so it all depends on the circumstance.  Similar for class and hanging out with friends.  It just seems that time really is what we choose it to be.  We have the ability to decide how we spend it, what we spend it on.  We cannot opt for more time because there really is only a limited amount, so we must choose the most important things to us to spend our time on.

Another boring awards show! The Sags have followed the golden globes and chosen the smae winners to honor.  There are many actors and actresses that have given fantastic work this year, and yet the samew bunch keep winning. It is just so frustrating! If the oscars turn out the same way, I think this year will be one of the dullest since perhaps Titanic in 1997.  Upsets are lovely! Well, good upsets.  Helen Mirren deserves best actress, but the other categories would be fine if an upset occurred.  I would love either Cate Blanchett or Rinko Kikuchi to win best supporting actress over Jennifer Hudson, who was good in Dreamgirls, but is rather overrated in my opinion.  Blanchett gave the best supporting performance this year i think, and deserves the win for her role in Notes on a Scandal.  Rinko is also a revelation as the Japanese deaf-mute in Babel who illustartes so much passion without saying a word.  He heartwrenching performance as the emotionally unstable and ignored girl is a very very close second to Blanchett.  In the other main categories, I wouldnt mind a surprise, although I am apathetic due to the nominees chosen.  One of my favorites was Jill Clauburgh from Running with Scissors, although she was overlooked for any awards.   

SO i just started working at Sierra Summit last last week.  I really like the job, but i find that i really have no time for other things.  Homework comes after work ends...no time to hang out.  I still want to play Tarot Cards! other than time, though, i really enjoy working.  The people are supper nice, and really inviting.  I guess vthe environment makes all the difference.  The one thing I dont like is having to work on the weekend though.  I used to go home maybe once  a month, however i cant now since i work on saturday evenings.  Ohhh well. 

Well the first assignment is rather difficult...Im not use to writing chaos.  I think the thing Im having the greatest difficulty with is deciding a true definition for temporality.  From what I understand, it refers to being bounded in time.  I guess this means that differnet stages of our lives are engullfed in temprality since each stage is unique in boundries.  I can see the boundries of high school and college...but saying that i have more independence and responsibility seems too simplistic and obvious...duh! There must be something else temporal that is different! Maybe behavior..patterns...I do tend to sleep in now, even thought i used to be up no later than 9 in high school.  BUt this too seems a bit blah! Ohh wells. Time to think!