Melanie Siokalo Eng. Comp. Tues 6- 8:30
When the Motivation No Longer Exists
Imagine the pattering of feet on the gravel road, heart and pulse rates sky rocketing out into the heavens, and the words “I think I can” being spoken all around you. You are so deep into the flow that none of these things concern you. But, what happens when, “I think I can, I think I can, I think I can”, turns into “I know I can, I know I can, I know I can?” The drive and motivation that the athlete once had, now turns into pride and self-centeredness. If “you know you can” let’s say win this marathon, then what is the point of running it in the first place? The accomplishment turns into more of a chore. The enjoyment and the flow are lost and instead dread has been gained. So is there a limit? Yes,there is a max to what the human race can achieve in the terms of making things “better.” Better becomes the best and that is all it really can be. And once this max has been reached, all individuality is lost. What makes the human race, the human race, is gone.
In Bill McKibben’s book, Enough, an example of a rock climber is used to explain the “flow” an athlete enters when they are concentrated on one particular thing. He states “If he were genetically altered to have stronger fingers and forearms, he would be able to climb harder routes- but he wouldn’t go ‘deeper’ into the flow state” (McKibben 52). The piece of mind that a rock climber is in disappears. The rock- climber no longer feels a challenge, just something to keep his body moving. The flow and self discovery are no longer things the rock-climber looks forward to at the start of the task. The rock-climber reaches for the next groove in the rock without hesitation, no sense of a challenge. McKibben also states, “So an upgrade won’t multiply your joy. Instead, it might as well sap joy, because forgetting the self seems to be a key part of falling into the flow” (McKibben 52-53). The "knowing" of what you are capable of (which in the future, if this continues, will be everything) throws away the flow. The process of the "flow" is almost like an out of body experience. But it’s not so out of body, when the task is no longer a challenge but an ego boost. "I think I can" turns into " Ha, yes so, I knew I could climb that rock without even flinching." The human race will have nothing to look forward to, nothing to strive for.There will no longer be a separation between world-class athlete and honor roll student. Actually, everyone in the race will be that combination and more.
But there is a time when an end has to be met. If everyone is the best then what happens? The answer- the sense of individuality is lost. We no longer have an identity but a mere number to distinguish one from the other. The human race blends into one, identical species. Once the human race becomes all it can be, there will be nothing left to achieve. In the comic book, Jimmy Corrigan, a young boy is portrayed with a dream to be like Superman. Now let’s look ahead in the next hundred years when every human being is just as strong, just as smart, and just as handsome as superman. Who is the superhero then? Do we have one? The answer is no. The human race will have no one to look up to as their savior or their hero. The strive to become just like Superman does not exist if you already are just like him, or even better than him.
Sometime in the future, a line has to be drawn. Some vote needs to be cast on the reality of the situation. Someone needs to stand up and say " Is this really what we all want? Let's look at the consequences if we keep preceding the way we are." Well if that never happens, I say climb all the rocks you can now. Enjoy the very last of the challenge that is put forth. Enjoy the flow of "not knowing" and self discovery. And enjoy all the superhero's you can now. Because soon, they will all be gone.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Melanie,
First of all I'd like to say that I like the general idea of your paper and how you are so descriptive. I really like how you set the scene in the beginning and really grab the reader. I also like how you conclude saying to enjoy things while we still have them right now. It's cool because we both agree about this idea.
I think that you may want to move some of your evidence from the first paragraph to later in the essay. The first paragraph is rather long, but it's very decriptive. Maybe you could split it up somehow. I like how you bring Jimmy Corrigan into it, but it's not really mentioned at all in the first paragraph, maybe you should preview it there.
Overall I think that it needs just a little bit of work to make it a great essay. I'm clear on what your stance is, and you have evidence to back it up. I hope that these ideas help you to make it a great piece of work!
Stephanie
Imagine the pattering of feet on the gravel road, heart and pulse rates sky rocketing out into the heavens, and the words “I think I can” being spoken all around you. You are so deep into the flow that none of these things concern you. But, what happens when the words “I think I can, I think I can, I think I can” become “I know I can, I know I can, I know I can?” The drive and motivation that once possessed the athlete now turns into pride and egocentricity. If the expression, “you know you can,” wins this marathon, then what is the point of running it in the first place?
The accomplishment of winning a marathon turns into more of a chore. The enjoyment and the flow are lost and, instead, dread has been gained. So, is there a limit? Yes, there is a maximum to what the human race can achieve in terms of making things “better.” “Better” becomes “the best” and that is all it really can be. And once this maximum has been reached, all individuality is lost. What makes the human race, the human race, is gone. In the books, Enough and Jimmy Corrigan, the future of our race is compared in many ways. To the author of Enough, Bill McKibben, the human race will soon merge into one identical race. There will not be a difference among individuals nor their abilities. In the comic novel, Jimmy Corrigan, the author predicts the future in a more humorous way. The future of our race is, simply put, a very gloomy one. These two books help portray the idea of the loss of individualism among our race if we continue at this pace.
In Bill McKibben’s book, Enough, an example of a rock climber is used to explain the “flow” an athlete enters when they are concentrated on one particular thing. He states, “If he were genetically altered to have stronger fingers and forearms, he would be able to climb harder routes- but he wouldn’t go ‘deeper’ into the flow state” (McKibben 52). The piece of mind that a rock climber is in disappears. The rock climber no longer feels a challenge, just something to keep his body moving. The flow and self discovery are no longer things the rock climber looks forward to at the start of the task. The rock climber reaches for the next groove in the rock without hesitation and sense of a challenge. McKibben also states, “So an upgrade won’t multiply your joy. Instead, it might as well sap joy, because forgetting the self seems to be a key part of falling into the flow” (McKibben 52-53). The "knowing" of what you are capable of (which in the future, if this continues, will be everything) throws away the flow. The process of the "flow" is almost like an out-of-body experience. But it is not so out-of-body when the task is no longer a challenge but an ego boost. "I think I can" turns into,"Ha, yes, so, I knew I could climb that rock without even flinching." The human race will have nothing to look forward to, nothing to strive for. There will no longer be a separation between world class athlete and honor roll student. Actually, everyone in the race will be that combination and more.
But there is a time when an end has to be met. If everyone is the best then what happens? The answer- the sense of individuality- is lost. We no longer have an identity but a mere number to distinguish one from the other. The human race blends into one, identical species. Once the human race becomes all it can be, there will be nothing left to achieve. In the comic novel , Jimmy Corrigan, a young boy is portrayed with a dream to be like Superman. Now let’s look ahead to the next one hundred years when every human being is just as strong, just as smart, and just as handsome as Superman. Who is the superhero then? Do we have one? The answer is “No.” The human race will have no one to look up to as their savior or their hero. The desire to become just like Superman does not exist if you already are just like him, or even better than him.
Sometime in the future, a line has to be drawn. A vote needs to be cast on the reality of the situation. Someone needs to stand up and say, "Is this really what we all want? Let's look at the consequences if we continue with the way we are." Well, if that never happens, I urge that we climb all the rocks we can now. Enjoy the very last of the challenge that is put forth. Enjoy the flow of "not knowing" and of self discovery. And enjoy all the superhero's you idol. Because soon, they will all be gone.
Stephanie - this is an ok response, but I would have liked a little more focus on Melanie's main argument.
Melanie - This is certainly the best use I've ever seen of "The Little Engine that Could."
Minor quibble: do you think the future as understood by JC is funny?
There are two strengths I see here. First, you make good use of both texts, and do as good of a job justifying reading them together (especially through the whole superhero issue) as anyone I've seen. Second, on the level of sentences and paragraphs, this is genuinely well written.
I do have a substantial criticism, though. I don't see any real way in which you're moving on or developing any of McKibben's points; this paper is essentially a well-written echo of his point of view, in (clever and well-written) relationship with Jimmy Corrigan. The weakness here (which results partially from the short length of the paper) is that you don't extend or challenge McKibben at all.
Post a Comment