Sacrifice

One of my favorite movies of all time is 'The Prestige' which is directed by Christopher Nolan. One of the main themes in this movie is sacrifice, it has opened my mind to think about what sacrifice actually is, how it can be good and how it can be bad.

Everyone sacrifices, whether it's time, talent, opportunity, life, or even people.

Why is sacrifice such a powerful action?

Would you sacrifice your talents and creativity for a chance to shine?

Would you sacrifice your friends to rise to the top?

Would you sacrifice your time to help someone in need?

All of these questions require multiple levels of understanding, yet are all similar.

Sacrifice can be looked at as good or bad.

Good

Right now, as a student, I sacrifice most of my time to Architecture. I could be out exploring the world or have more time to try new and different things; but I chose to take the diligent path to become a Master Architect and to achieve an astute and profound understanding of what Architecture is and how it effects the world. Eventually this sacrifice will catch up to me in the end, because I know in my mind that down the road somewhere, the path I chose for my life will lead to good things.

Bad

Never sacrifice your time and talents for someone who does not truly appreciate what you are doing for them and why you are doing it. In the past I always fought to do the 'right thing' and to try to help everyone; but helping everyone isn't necessarily always the best course of action. There are people who will not appreciate what you do and see it as nothing. It is not worth the time you give and therefore should be saved for something more productive.

The level of sacrifice in 'The Prestige' is way more complex than my personal sacrifices, but explaining that would ruin the movie for people who have not seen it.

Next time you find yourself sacrificing your time for something, think about how it will effect you in the long run, and if actually performing the action will be rewarding to you or tragic. Everyone needs to sacrifice something at some point in their life, There is no avoiding that.

Life isn't perfect and neither are we.

Interaction

Interaction is one of the key factors which make man kind Humans.

In the documentary 'Guys and Dolls', four men from different areas of the United States and England are documented on their relationships with inanimate companionship dolls. These men would rather invest in the company of inanimate objects which look like real women, then actual women. They do not believe that they can keep a constant relationship with another human being and so they create a relationship were they are in constant control.

For me, the interaction between people is key for my day to day. I enjoy knowing that I'll always have a friend or a family member to talk to.

Interaction is a learning experience. The more you interact with something the more you learn. The more you talk with someone the more you get to know someone. The more you interact with an object, the more you know the object.

The simple emotions displayed between an interacting point between a boy and a girl are crucial. For example, if I were to receive a wave or sign of acknowledgment from a girl, i'd rather make a silly face or say something which causes a laugh then simply to wave back. Rather then receiving no other signs of aknoweldgement, I achieve something greater...

A smile :)

'Splicers'

Everything about the topic/game I am about to write about has mostly everything to do with a lot we talk about in Art & Technology; However I am going to attempt to focus on the gene splicing aspect of it.

I keep finding myself able to tie in class discussions into video games that I enjoy to play. It's really great because it allows me to have an in depth analysis and make comparisons between the game world and the real world

Bioshock is a horror-first person shooter set in an alternate 1960. It takes place in the underwater dystopian metropolis of 'Rapture' which was constructed by Andrew Ryan, a man trying to escape the "political, social, and religious anxieties of a post World War 2". The city's location is in the middle of the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean in between Greenland and Iceland. The city is styled to appear as an underwater New York City in size and also in it's Art Deco appearance. The game itself has many subliminal or intricate connections to Christianity.

The goal of creating rapture was to create a paradise free from all of the people that Ryan considered parasites, people who would steal ideas for their own. Their is a connection to the actual rapture mentioned in the bible by taking the best and the brightest of everyone on earth to a place where no one can touch them. People would study and work the way they wanted, to gain a sense of knowledge for themselves rather then fulfilling the wants and needs for others. Having no social system in Rapture was it's only flaw, it caused the less fortunate citizens to resent Andrew Ryan and to think of him as naive and an elitists. Ryans paranoia of the self and of the parasite led to his mental downfall as well as the city itself. The resentment of Raptures leader and creator led to competition throughout the city; especially by one of its citizens, Frank Fontaine, a former mob boss who built a criminal empire through smuggling. Fontaine went on to start a city wide civil war which led to raptures doom.

This was just an introduction into the game world, so that you can get a sense of what it's like to live in this underwater dystopia.

The story of the main game where you play in first person perspective isn't important compared to the science aspect that I will go into; however, the story is marvelous and well worth reading into or actually trying to play the game for yourself.

Seeing as how the game takes place in alternate 1960 but was created in our 2007, you would think that the technology surrounded the game would be like our 1960 technology; and it is, with a twist. Ryan believed that scientific achievement was being restricted by 'petty moralitly', he wanted the people of rapture to explore all possible scientific achievements no matter the cost, for greatness. One of the greatest scientific achievements that occured in Rapture was the discovery of 'ADAM'. ADAM is the raw form of unstable stem cells which have been harvested and processed from a parasitic sea slug. ADAM has the ability to produce cells which normally don't exist in the human body. It acts like cancer by replacing cells with unstable cells of it's own accord. It gives the host amazing physical powers but also causes mental damage to people who use it habitually.

ADAM was eventually used to create 'Plasmids', special serums made from processed ADAM that introduced special stem cells into the body and allowed for genetic modification and real time mutation. In other words, plasmids gave whoever injected themselves with it 'super powers', powers which no human can control. Plasmids are very powerful but cause physical and mental breakdowns in a person, addiction, and insanity. The use of plasmids was limited to the amount of EVE a person had, which is another modified version of ADAM. (Adam and Eve, parallels to the fall of rapture)

Plasmids introduced different kinds of elemental and natural powers to the bearer. Elements such as electric bolts, fire, ice, and wind were among some of the plasmids used in the game. (which you will see an example of in the videos below). The scary thing is that our society is coming close to the point of a major breakthrough with stems cells. Now all of this is fun to do in a video game but in real life it seems really scary. If people had the power to wield lightning in their finger tips I would be truly scared. Humans are always searching for more power, it's not instinctive but almost like a life goal. People are raised to believe that power is everything and power consumes themselves almost like ADAM consumes it's host and breaks them down mentally.

Genetic researchers have officially produced clones and other things using stem cells. What's next, will they bring back the dinosaurs? Has anyone watched Jurassic Park. Yea i'm totally joking dinosaurs would be awesome. It's scary to think of what humanity is capable of but has the morals to control, at least some.

I feel as if Bioshock shows what people would be like if society let them off their chain. Ryan's idea of releasing 'petty morality' is scary but interesting to see in a game considering it isn't real. But this game is based off real human beings, and for it to be even thought up makes it possible to happen. What would the world be like if it was set up more like rapture? Would we be more advanced in technology seeing how their was no moral law against what you would be studying?

Below is the first level of Bioshock, everything mentioned above is pretty much featured in the video, watching them you might have a better understanding of what's going on. Pay close attention to what they say as well as what they do if you decide to watch.

Welcome to Rapture Part 1/3


Welcome to Rapture Part 2/3


Welcome to Rapture Part 3/3