Creativity in Education

This is the video that I referenced in class. It loosely relates to our discussions today about education and ideas of 'knowing'. It also coincidentally ties in with Jackie's post below on dancing. Either way I think it's an amazing talk.

Also, if you're interested in reading about what types of discussion it generated amongst a bunch of British folk you can take a look here: http://webakestuff.co.uk/blog/page/3/

Fear of automata?

Are we afraid of losing our place in an increasingly-machinated world?

Clearly The Truman Show, The Stepford Wives, and Brave New World agree. Let's see what the internet has to say about this:





Yeah, perhaps.



Also, Mr. Schwarzenegger, of the Viennese school of thought demonstrates the unheimlich of cloning (doppelgangers!)

Are We Human? Or are We Dancers?

So I was reading the Uncanny and it said how the Sandman leaves the reader unsure of what is human and what is an automaton. This reminded me of the Killers Song Human. lyrics can be found here:

http://www.metrolyrics.com/human-lyrics-the-killers.html

To me it seems like the song is asking what is the difference between a human and something that is cold, and almost robotic. (This is absolutely not a slight against dancers, personally I think dance is a beautiful art form) but when I've danced (and I'm certainly not a dancer) the movements are choreographed, it is a large group of people all doing the same thing at the same time, and it doesn't mean anything.

So what makes Dance beautiful?

The first time I heard this song I thought of the "Dancers" as free spirits, but the more i listened to it, it seemed that they were comparing dancers to robots. We've all seen dancers that do the movements with perfect technique... but they have something missing, something off. They lack emotion and passion, something that skill can't make up for. Dancers who dance without emotion.... are just dancers, not humans, but automatons or robots. In order to turn dance into an art form, you have to put the human part of you first, let your emotions come into your work, feel something, feel purpose, feel passion. That is what makes dance beautiful, that is what makes any form of art beautiful.

The Sandman

So I was researching some stuff on the Sandman text, since after we saw the video in class it got me curious as to what else I could find!

I realized that the Metallica song "Enter Sandman" could actually be based upon Hoffmann's tale. Traditionally the Sandman is not really viewed as a violent creature, but both Hoffmann and Metallica seem to emphasize the sinister aspects of the fairy tale.

Here's the music video and lyrics (I couldn't figure out how to paste it directly, sorry!):

Music Video
Lyrics

It's so funny how we see things in our everyday life and don't realize just how historical/educational it can really be!

Freud and Consumerism

Did you guys know that Freud is now a brand? There are action figures, slippers, posters with freudian slips and a plethora of other random items. When any of these things are bought his family gets a percentage of the profits.

There are slippers:
http://www.bunnyslippers.com/novelty-slippers/freudian-slippers.php?gclid=CKObrcaauZ4CFVw55Qody3Gkhw

Action figures:
http://www.stupid.com/fun/SIGM.html

Posters:
http://www.allposters.com/-sp/What-s-On-a-Man-s-Mind-Sigmund-Freud-Posters_i96866_.htm

I thought the idea that he is now a marketing tactic and no longer a valid psychoanalysist was amusing. Anyone else have any thoughts on this phenomenon?

Olympia, the mechanical doll

I can't find a copy of the video with subtitles, but suffice it to say that Olympia is saying bland, banal things ....

Olympia from the Tales of Hoffmann

Chodowiecki's Cagliostro

According to Nathanael, Professor Spalanzani looks just like this: