Are you a believer in signs or do you think events happen because of luck? People are either believers of everything happening for a reason or believers of people having luck, and everything always going right for them. In the film, the director shows a universal theme of a man struggling between faith and believing in the signs. Shyamalan expresses this through allegory, flashback, and conflict.
In the epigraph of Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man, Ellison quoted, “Harry: I tell you, it is not me you are looking at…but that other person, if person, you thought I was: let your necrophily feed upon that carcase… [sic]” This quote from T. S. Eliot’s Family Reunion portrays one of Ellison’s chief themes in many of his works. This inclination towards seeing what you want to see and omitting all else is, in psychology, called the confirmation bias. Individuals do this subconsciously every day without fail. Whether this bias is shown through writing a persuasive essay, or through explaining an issue to a colleague or friend, it plays a large role in many of our lives.
To answer Bertrand Russell's implied question, no person can write an interesting story about history without bias. When readers or people get excited about a story, there has to be a slight bias, positive or negative, when writing about true events to keep people questioning and responsive enough to continue reading. Some authors will have an obvious inclination toward characters to catch people's attention and see if the readers can recognize instances where a personal opinion is being used, which may inspire people to want to` pursue a story. An author's goal is to get the reader's attention and keep it; using bias is one way to do that. As seen in Jon Krakauer's story Into the Wild, there’s a positive bias toward protagonist Chris McCandless.
The 1997 science fiction film ‘Gattaca,’ directed by Andrew Niccol delves into the concept that the human spirit will prevail despite an uncaring fate. Protagonist Vincent Freeman represents powerful notions of perseverance and humanity, and through his victory epitomizes humanity’s triumph over science. Niccol implies that all children deemed Valid do not possess the trait of the human spirit and consequently have no true dreams nor aspirations. Niccol infers that when one knows their predetermined fate, they will not strive to accomplish anything further. When a Valid does not accomplish their predetermined fate they struggle under the burden of perfection.
Before we're born, our lives are foretold. We're woven through puzzles until we're placed correctly, and we wait till our time comes. Our choices, actions, and beliefs are predicted by the Gods. Our blueprints are engraved in stone -- destined to follow their paths perfectly. Every step is planned, and every future is known.
The articles “Machine Bias” by Julia Angwin, et al. and “Should Prison Sentences Be Based on Crimes That Haven’t Been Committed Yet?” by Anna Maria Barry-Jester, et al. and the short story “The Minority Report” by Philip K. Dick share a common theme. Except that “The Minority Report” is a work of fiction, whereas “Machine Bias” and “Should Prison Sentences Be Based on Crimes That Haven’t Been Committed Yet?” are based on real life events.
The movie was in the era of The Cold War, when United States had tensions with the Soviet Union. With this in mind, I predicted
Failures and successes in life have led many people to believe that destiny plays a role in one's future life outcome. Some say destiny, the “hidden power believed to control what will happen in the future”, is unchangeable; fate has already decided how one will live their life. Although in some cases this may be true, one is able to change their destiny by the deeds and actions they commit during their lifetime. Many people disregard the idea that actions play a large role in forming one's future.
John, Agatha, and Lemar all reinforce this theme. As do the cinematic techniques, over the shoulder camera angle and framing characters. Steven Spielberg has clearly put a great deal of thought into how Minority Report will comment on free will vs
Philosophy in Literature and Films (HS3033) Assignment Sashank K EE11B124 3 November 2014 1 1 An Introduction to Moral Philosophy and some of its Theories Most humans judge the moral consequences of what they and others do. They classify everything as good or bad. Thus, ethical philosophy is a branch of philosophy which is relevant at some level to even laymen, who are not philoso- phers. All of us make moral judgments based on some preconceived or preexist- ing moral principle.
The movie shows that this fear can lead to a dangerous outcome if not handled
‘A Time to Kill’ is a movie that depicts the racial tensions between the white and black Americans in the past. The movie revolves around the life of Jake Brigance, a lawyer, and Carl Lee Hailey, as he struggles with the law and racism after seeking justice for his raped 10-year old daughter. As Carl Lee approaches Brigance for help with his case, they both face the challenge of blurring the lines between the white and black Americans and helping Carl Lee escape the long arms of the law. In the movie, racism, negligence of one side of the story, and objectivity are applied.
When the film The Sixth Sense, directed by Night Shyamalan debuted in 1999, it mesmerized audiences near and far with its appealing paranormal plot, its deceptive nature and its top-shelf talent from its actors. The film was immensely prosperous and quickly became a cultural phenomenon. However, most casual moviegoers overlooked its underlying philosophical significance. The Sixth Sense is driven by the big questions of life from almost every aspect of philosophy specifically metaphysics and epistemology. In this specific scene Shyamalan relies on subtlety to create a creepy atmosphere of something beyond our ordinary beliefs and understanding.
Fate, by definition, is the universal principle by which the order of things is seemingly prescribed. (Webster) Essentially, fate is events that are inevitable that we have no power to change. It is debatable that fate exists among everyone; however, humans are subject to making their own choices- free will. No matter what choices people make, they do not change our fate.
Prompt 2 Question 1 Compatibilists believe that free will is compatible with determinism and an act can be both free and determined at the same time. They identify free will with freedom of action and to act freely simply means to be free from external coercion. Determinism is the idea that every event including human decisions and actions are completely predetermined by previous causes. Once the causes occur, the effects must follow. These effects include moral choices.
