What Are We - 986 Words

A Summary of Mike Alsford’s Chapter 2 â€Å"The Primal Question: What Are We?† In book â€Å"What If: Religious Themes in Science Fiction†; the second chapter, â€Å"The Primal Question: What Are We?† Mike Alsford talks about science fiction as anthropology and how he has grouped the understanding of human beings into four categories: Subjects; Agents; Contingent; and Relational/Social. Alsford uses a lot of science fiction TV; Movies; and novels references to explain his conclusion as to â€Å"What Are We.† Science fiction as anthropology SF as anthropology is the exploration of human identity, the human condition and what constitutes human-ness. Is he human or property is the question in an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation where Data†¦show more content†¦Data usually showed signs of a kind soul, but when wires got crossed, he also turned against those nearest to him. Human being as contingent This view â€Å"Human being as contingent†, this is the characteristic behaviourist perspective, which is the biochemical organism dependent upon context and the environment for their being, Alsford states that B. F. Skinner is viewed as the person normally associated with human being as contingentis. It is fascinating how SF uses environmental effects and how it uses different environments as an attraction to the genre with all the possible outcomes. Alsford states that according to Pavlov that conditioning by the environment makes human beings susceptible to conditioned responses. Pavlov used animals to show that they could be conditioned to their environment by using certain stimuli; a bell would be rung when they were given food, after doing this for awhile, the dog would start drooling when the bell was rung without being given food. Alsford states that Friedrich Schleiermacher speaks of the common human religious experience as being ‘a fee ling of absolute dependence’, and that human beings are intimately related to our creator. Human being as relational/social Human being as relational is what happens between individuals instead of in or to. Like the relationship human beings have with God, weather we see him/her or not, human beings have a relationship with God. Martin Buber a JewishShow MoreRelatedWhat If We Gave It A?960 Words   |  4 Pagesmind again, where he has to come out of the date (or appointment) with a question mark on his/her mind like â€Å"what if we gave it a try one more time?† A good way to make it easy for you for the appointment, is to mix simplicity with pragmatism. Don’t dress to impress. People make this mistake all the time. Women put too much make up and they even wear their favorite lingerie and then what comes into their minds is to use sex to get their ex back. Men overdo it, by either putting on an eau de cologneRead MoreWhat Are We Believe?968 Words   |  4 PagesWhat to believe in? All my life I wondered which of the thousands of religions, if any, is the right one to believe in. I’m sure most religious people have found their selves questioning if the God or higher power they’re devoting their time to is even real. I for one have done that more times than I can count. Today, there’s roughly 4,200 different religions in the world. That’s 4,200 different beliefs in the world, all believing in a different God or higher power. Some of us are extremely religiousRead MoreWhy We Eat What We Eat854 Words   |  4 PagesWhy we eat what we eat Why we eat what we eat refers to why and how people eat, which foods they eat, and with whom they eat, as well as the way people store, use, and discard food. Individual, social, cultural, religious, economic, and political factors all influence the way people eat there food. Economic Money, values, and the consumer all affect what a person purchases. The price of a food is not an indicator of its nutritional value. Cost is a combination of a foods availability, status, andRead MoreWhat Can We Do?. We All Know What Happens. We Hear It On1691 Words   |  7 PagesWhat Can We Do? We all know what happens. We hear it on TV. We see it in the newspapers. We warn our girls about the probabilities that they might be a victim too, a victim of rape. Why is it that we have a rapist in the world? Are not we taught that ethically and morally we must treat each other as we want to be treated? Who would want to be stripped of their clothing, stripped of their independence, and stripped of their sense of security and safety. Is it a natural phenomenon? Is it somethingRead MoreWe Must Change What We Eat974 Words   |  4 PagesWe need to change what we eat. This conclusion came about due to the increased heath concerns, and financial stress caused by our current eating habits. In America diabetes along with obesity is at an all-time high. From 2010-2012 diabetes has increased in the American population by 1.3 Million. Also even though our cost of eating is much higher than it was has to be, we refuse to change what we eat. Eating out less is one way that we can change what we eat. Eating out on average costs more thanRead MoreHell: What We Think We Know2123 Words   |  9 PagesHELL, WHAT WE THINK WE KNOW The subject of Hell is a subject that turns many people off to organized religion today. After all, who wants to spend their Sunday mornings listening to a preacher rant and rave about the â€Å"Hell fire and brimstone† of Hell or â€Å"burning in Hell† or if you don’t change your ways you will spend eternity in Hell. Most want to be entertained and walk out of church feeling all warm and fuzzy. Therefore, clergy mostly ignore the subject or gloss over it even though they believeRead MoreWhat We Give to the Earth Is What We will Get in Return Essay768 Words   |  4 Pagesimpact the ecosystem. The environment and how people treat mother earth is a strong topic for many people. The quote, â€Å"what you give out to the earth, is what you’ll get out†, makes one really consider what their impact is on the environment. This leads to the question, what is the world coming to? Many people have been trying to help the ecosystem and are trying to impro ve what has been already ruined. The world is trying to come together to help save the earth. Many groups have evolved becauseRead MoreWhat Can We Do?1526 Words   |  7 PagesWhat Can We Do Ever wanted to grab something to eat, and all the cheap food options were where junk food? Have you ever once gone out of the way to go to a grocery store to not have enough money to spend on fruits, and vegetables, but end up buying 5 cartons of ramen noodles instead? Majority of our foods that are easily accessible are processed, therefore making junk food enticing and easier to buy. (Union of†¦) Having healthy food more expensive is dangerous for ourselves, and for our communitiesRead MoreWhat If We Were Photographed?904 Words   |  4 PagesWhat If We Were Photographed? The soft and gentle company of an individual s arms does more than words could ever do. Knowing that we have someone to comfort us in a time of need is an assurance that calms and supports our lives. The first time we experience this feeling, even though we don’t realize it, is when our mothers hold us close to their hearts at birth. Not only did my mom clench me near to her heart when I was born, but she continues to hold me there tightly every day. When I think ofRead MoreWhat Do We Discover? Essay1349 Words   |  6 Pagesfrom various division of an association. However Data-stockroom require proficient overseeing method. Reasonably these are same just at one element that they gather substantial measure of data. So when we contrast a major information arrangement with an information stockroom, what do we discover? We find that a major information arrangement is an innovation and that information warehousing is a building design. They are two altogether different things. An innovation is only that – a way to store and