Week 2
1. Packing For Mars
This reading offers a very interesting perspective on space travel. It emphasizes the extreme conditions and preparation that is necessary to have a successful trip to the moon, even if all you are trying to do is put a flag down. Putting a flag down seems like something so easy but they are so many different factors in space that make it much more difficult than planting one on earth. Additionally, if someone in space has died, the rest of the crew is supposed to leave them and not try to rescue them because then they are risking even more lives. This is super interesting because on earth, we always feel obligated to rescue someone if we can. Space is really out of this world. Of course there are scientific and physical differences but there are also moral and psychological differences as well. Another point that struck me was the fact that astronauts had to have an incredible tolerance for boredom. I never would have guessed that going to space would be boring, but now thinking about it, it has to be extremely boring for a long time. Being confined to such a small space for such a long period of time would drive me crazy. A trip to space doesn’t seem as glorious as I thought.
2. In & Of Itself
I started watching this movie and had my computer open, constantly taking notes. I was writing a very simple description of what was happening. Then I stopped and let the remaining hour of the movie have my full attention. I wanted to understand what he was trying to say. Why he was doing what he was doing. I longed for a definition of this movie and now after watching it, I think it's an experience more than it is a movie. It made me think and triggered my emotions but I still don’t know why.
He used magic and illusions to keep things interesting while making bigger claims about humanity and the value of life. Delgaudio has everybody take a card that is supposed to describe who they are. With the help of a couple stories, he then shows us how silly it is for us to use those single words to describe. He demonstrates why we are so much more than just that word on that card. At the end, he then goes around in a very special moment and tells everybody what card they had chosen. Everybody was shocked that he had known which card everyone had taken but that wasn’t there only surprise. It felt like when he said those words they all had an “ah ha” moment. It seemed as if the whole performance now made sense. That even though that is how they identified themselves, they were so much more than that.
