Inquiry Response

Inquiry
Here Comes Science


I am a firm believer that there is something to be learned from everything. But there is more to be learned in some than in others. Many children's shows, and other children's media nowadays, is geared towards teaching on the kids’ level. There are books that teach colors and letters, shows that teach basic Spanish words and Amina's facts, short movies that teach kindness and moral principles. Barney. Little Einsteins. Dora the Explorer. Sesame Street. Buddy Dinosaur Train. Backyardagains. Zaboomafoo. Blue’s Clues. While I am a big fan of learning when you are young and of teaching at the children’s level, I do not like that many of these shows because they dumb down the shows instead of just simplifying them.

Inquiry media can be fascinating and stimulate curiosity and learning, but when dumbed down it does not encourage greater growth beyond that level that it is teaching. Dora the Explorer treats children like they are stupid little babies that need to be treated like they cannot see what is on the screen. It simplifies to the point of stupidity. It conveys the message of “you are young and stupid. Let me throw you a bone.”

Media that simplifies what it teaches without dumbing it down stimulates that growth so much more. It fosters curiosity, invites questions, and teaches the children, and even adults, in a way they can understand and desire to know more. The YouTube videos “Here Come Science” are great examples of Inquiry videos that simplify without dumbing it down. Just looking at their video “Paleontology,” we can see big words, simple explanations and definitions, scientific terms, fun color, and catchy music. The video is fun and engaging, yet teaches new concepts and words that most little kids won’t know. It doesn’t treat the audience like they are stupid, but rather like they want to learn in a fun simple way. This makes these videos enjoyable to all, teaches, and asks us to turn to another for more definitions or explanations.

We see these same principles in the book, “Cathedral: The Story of It’s Construction,” as well as the video “The Powers of Ten.” The book is stuffed full of pictures and uses few sentences per page, yet contains complex processes and words. “Powers of Ten” catches the attention and holds it fast as the camera zooms backward and then forward, revealing new and exciting discoveries every few seconds. Both are simple and yet fascinating, they answer questions and teach new things while making the audience feel transfixed and intelligent. I think we need more children's media like this.

Round Robin with Gigi

For those writing this kind of story, one that is completely back and forth small messages, it creates more feeling, in some cases, than a straight narrative. The reader can almost see the characters, can almost hear their voices and inflection. The collaboration techniques allow the stories to almost develope on their own as it just unfolds. The shorter messages and shorter stories, while without as much detail or description, carry emotion and connect with the younger generation. That is how they communicate all day. Personally, for us, it broke down the creative process into much more manageable chunks. It was easy to know how to respond because it came naturally, and you’d follow the flow of conversation into what eventually became slightly exaggerated but within the realm of possibility of a real conversation.
How we started was with the basic premise, which came from a real text conversation one of us had been a part of earlier that week. Interestingly, we set out to establish all this background information that we could draw off of, that we simply never did. Details about the context were useful for getting into the headspace of these characters who were barely characters at all, just archetypes. There was the possibility that these details would come up, but when we actually got around to writing, it just didn’t seem necessary. Supposedly we were just jumping into a previously established relationship, so there was no need to establish much, though a few details did come up naturally.
While we were establishing how we were going to go about it, we discussed a lot of what we were both bringing into the process with our assumptions. We had different ideas that we didn’t discuss as well, adding them in as soon as we started our project in earnest. The attempt was to make it as realistic as possible, going off of what DJ Spooky said about how much information we produce everyday. A lot of that information is useless, but we were also considering that that information, however useless is what makes up our lives. The conversation we came up with could have been communicated much quicker and in simpler terms, but the characters generated what essentially became filler space in the conversation because that is how they were used to communicating. This idea of filler content that is part of the content came from a discussion we had about social media. There is all this information that is just a stream of information, but taken as a whole can be used to determine character, direction of a group, intentions of an audience, or any number of things. That was the kind of authenticity and stream of consciousness we were going for, especially in contrast to the overly constructed narratives on Hooked we both had some complaints about.




 
 

Fear and Morality

I hated Pinocchio as a little kid. I loved Disney and adventure, but I grew up seeing Pinocchio as the “bad” kid. He did everything that my mommy told me was bad: he ignored his conscience, disobeyed his parent, went with strangers, lied, smoked, and drank alcohol. And yet somehow he still somehow managed to become a real boy at the end. My little six year old brain could not understand how someone could do what daddy told them not to do, do bad things, and still live happily ever after. Plus, that movie contained my worst fear growing up: kidnappers. Even now, while I understand the deeper lessons about honesty, purity, goodness, obedience, and listening to the small voice inside, I still get the heeby-geebies with the guile of Honest John, Gideon, and the man who tricked the boys onto Paradise Island.

Pinocchio is stuffed full of lessons in morality. I mean, talk about a didactic narrative! Everything that happens in that hour and a half long movie can be taken as a lesson to be learned. Good boys get their wishes granted. Bad boys punished and end up being miserable. Listen to parents, for that will make you truly happy. Don’t talk to, listen to, or follow strangers. Listen to the Spirit and listen the first time. Do not lie. I mean, Pinocchio is a mother’s dream come true. It teaches children a ton of moral lessons, and properly scares them away from strangers. Most importantly, it teaches that what is fun, is not always good. Just like the two lazy pigs in all the different accounts of “The Three Little Pigs,” what is fun and easy is most appealing for children. They don’t see the big picture and the long run. They do what they want, rather than what is best or smart, like the bad boys on Paradise Island. And in both moral stories, they do indeed have fun, but their fun is not long lasting.

I think that despite disdaining this movie as a kid, it is quite accurate as far as the vulnerability of children go, as they can be manipulated so easily. I realized this time around that Pinocchio was not a bad boy, but that he was used, misled, and manipulated, in some cases he was even forcefully taken, like by Honest John who wanted him to go to Paradise Island. Children are very trusting and are quick to change their minds when presented with something new, or colorful, or fun. They are taught to trust adults, which in some cases can be dangerous. Growing up, I was always far more afraid of kidnappers than monsters, and this movie played right along with those fears. I believe it is supposed to. Just like in Little Red Riding Hood, not everyone is to be trusted; not everyone is as they seem. It still gives me the goosebumps when I see or read stuff like this. Children need to be protected.

Music Mosaic

       The first thing that came into my mind when I hit the play button, was “this is morning.” Soundroll’s instrumental song, Your Inspiration, really was to me as the title named it. I immediately felt excitement, happiness, and like the start of something new. I could “see” the sun peaking through the window and felt a childlike pleasure. I immediately knew what I could draw, because it was what I felt, and I wanted to make it clear through what eyes we were looking in the picture. Not “looking through” literally, but “with the feeling and attitude of.” I used pencil and a selective use of color to show the innocence and softness, yet attention and excitement of a child through the adventure of each new day.

       Children get into a lot of trouble and like to get their way, but despite all that, they are the sweetest, most innocent, and most pure delights on Earth. I felt like pencil captured that softness and innocence. My light sketches show the simplicity of young children as well as their purity and innocence. They are still learning everyday and know only the outlines, the basics, of a few things in this great big world around them. Their knowledge is incomplete, yet it shows them the basic idea of things they are so curious to learn more about. My pencils drawings are not detailed or exemplary, yet they show the idea they are supposed to contain. My pencil strokes are pretty soft, without harsh lines, just as children are not hardened or set in any position or attitude. They are always looking to understand more and are so accepting of facts told them by parents.

As everyone who knows anything about young children know, kids have very selective hearing and sight. They are easy distracted and drawn to things that are different, colorful, or move. I tried to draw attention to things that would draw the attention and fascination of children, by coloring them. Just as Annie Dillard states in her article Seeing, there is so much to be seen and experienced, and what you see depends on what you look at and look for. Edgar Allen Poe spoke of this human condition in his story Message Found in a Bottle, as he realized that the sailors we walked among could not see him no matter what he did because they did not expect to see him. Children see in a way that is very different to adults, and the pops of color draw our attention to the exciting, the colorful, and the fun that are there to be seen if we look for them and study them as Dillard, or really, as a child would. This song, Your Inspiration, reminded me that magic and innocence can once more enter our lives if we see the world with the eyes and excitement of a child.

Your Inspiration

Your Inspiration - Soundroll (start at the bottom)

 

The Blessing and Curse of Selflessness

Being selfless is a trait that is seen by practically all religions and cultures as admirable, worth aiming and striving for, and praiseworthy. The selfless are viewed as “good” people or even considered “saintly.” Pride and self-conceit are frowned upon, and people with those characteristics are  frankly quite annoying to be around. No one likes a know-it-all or show-off or braggart. They tend to live for themselves and make very few friends. Yet for some strange reason, Ayn Rand loves the idea of an inflated ego and writes all of her books for the purpose of worshiping the self and tearing into humility, service, and selflessness. She has written nineteen award-winning books all revolving around these ideas, featuring either extreme pride or extreme selflessness and the effects of these qualities. Rather like many today who argue for either faith or works, Rand sees it as there is selfishness or selflessness, there is no middle ground or ability to have a balance of both. Of the two, she finds selflessness the bigger evil. Anthem focuses on extreme selflessness and why it is so evil. While the story, layout, and genre of her book Anthem is perfectly beautiful, hooking, and finely crafted to make the reader think and feel, the underlying theme and my own personal beliefs make me reject Rand’s ideas as dangerous.

The community-centered society that Anthem takes place in demonstrates Rand’s distaste for selflessness and what she thinks it leads to, in a enchantingly horrifying way. The intriguing story, unique first person narrative without conjunctions or personal pronouns, and futuristic dystopia is crafted in a beautiful and stylistic way that makes it hard to put down or not get emotionally involved with her world. The way it is written, the audience can see society going that way eventually, which pulls them in, connecting them to the main character, and making them hate the selfless system in play. Her theme is much more subtle than in her other books. While other books of Rand’s, such as The Fountainhead, blatantly attacks humility and service as self-destroying, Anthem takes a much softer approach and quietly attacks selflessness by removing the idea of “self” altogether. Rand describes a society with no words for “I,” “me,” “mine,” or “self.” There is only “we.” It is the community as a whole that dictates each person’s job, way of thinking, and purpose in life. The individual does not matter. The short sentences, the simple language, the fear of the readers of being “no one” hook the audience and draw them into this world of extreme selflessness and begin forming a fear in them of being a nobody lost in the service of others.

“It is forbidden, not to be happy. For, as it has been explained to us, men are free and the earth belongs to them; and all things on earth belong to all men; and the will of all men together is good for all; and so all men must be happy…[yet] it is not good to feel too much joy nor to be glad that our body lives. For we matter not and it must not matter to us if we live or die, which is to be as our brothers will it.” (Page 46-7)

I feel that this fear of the extreme that Rand is instilling with her captivating stories and subtle, but not really subtle theme, could be dangerous if taken to heart by the readers, as they then swing to the other extreme of “selfishness.” It is human nature to turn and run in the opposite direction of what we fear. The fear of being consumed by the masses, the rules established by them, and the requests to fill the needs of the hurting, can lead to wanting to rise above the others and live putting them aside.

   I know of too many cases of men and women who spurn society and do not care about others; they hold on to pride and worship none but themselves. Their ego comes first. This has led to too much neglect, pain, abuse, and crime. Someone very close to me was raised by a verbally abusive father who cared more about being right, first, successful and in charge than about his wife and children. Another worked with a boss who cared very little of the many hours his employees were working or bad conditions they worked in as long as he was making millions and spending as little as possible on employee wages. I know multiple good, intelligent, hardworking people who are homeless and cannot get good jobs because of the prejudice and pride of employers.

I understand that while thinking of others first does have a place, having a sense of self also has it's place. Putting yourself second to every other need can indeed be harmful and wear out an individual until there is little left. But just as there can be faith with works, i know that selflessness and selfishness are not mutually exclusive. It does not have to be only the extremes that Ayn Rand describes. There needs to be a balance in all things. There is so much need, suffering, and hurting he world, that if selflessness andputting others before yourself keeps getting put down and treated as something to be avoided, as Ayn Rand's Anthem does, the hurt and injustice in the world could increase drastically.

Shifting Childhood

Defining childhood is like trying to describe the shape of a cloud; it is correct for the moment but it does not hold true for the past and it will not for the future. It even depends on who you are asking. A cloud that looks like a sparrow to one person may look like a ship to another. A child may say that a child is anyone younger than him or her. To an adult, a child could be anyone under the age of 18, while to a teenager it is 14 or younger, or to my grandmother it is anyone younger than 40. Just as what a child is is debated, so is what is childish or meant for children.

       How adults have perceived children also changes with time. The early versions of Little Red Riding Hood are much more dark, sexual, and have bad endings for Little Red, demonstrating adults viewed children as small, vulnerable adults in need of strict warnings with clear consequences. Later versions are lighter, with Red getting rescued after being eaten and then learning from her mistakes, showing that children were seen as soft, innocent, fragile, and needing warnings but without scaring the young too badly. Today, childhood is something cherished and they are given more slack to experiment, learn, play, and make mistakes as we read in Where the Wild Things Are.

        What is meant for children is not always what children watch or always about children. “Snow White” did not have a single child in the movie, yet was created for children to watch. “Son of Rambow” is a movie with a mainly children as the cast, yet is not a film I would show to my kids. The movie has children using profanity, smoking, hurting and using others, lying to parents, blackmailing, and stealing, and portrays it as “cool.” Young Will comes from a repressive family and religion, so it is portrayed as only natural and good for him to rebel and stretch his wings a little bit. His family even ends up following his lead and leaving their religion, just so Will can do what he now finds fun and keep his new friends. These friends led him to lie to his mother, destroy clothes, break rules, hurt a teacher, skip class, sneak out at night, and almost die on several occasions, but hey, they are friends.  “Son of Rambow” is a very cute movie, quite funny, and has a super touching ending, but despite being all about kids, I would not show it to my children until they were older. They would need to be able to distinguish “fun” from “good.”

        I believe physical growth is different from mental growth, and age does not always describe maturity. I could consider a 12 year old as less a child as a 15 year old depending on their intelligence and maturity. What a child is and what is good for them has to take both factors into account.