Immersive Effects: Communication and Second Life

“I think the human race has squandered its gift, and I think this country has squandered its promise, for the sake of cell phones and Jet Skis.” said George Carlin, an American social critic, who seemed to be experiencing frustration over a modern world that emphasised the adoption of advanced technological products in people's lives. He found some comfort not to blindly commit himself into a social life he did not want by declaring his detachment from the humanity realm.He explained his methods in his book, “Last Words” confessing that, although he knew he was still human, he would not identify himself with his species any longer-Not that he had abandoned his humanity, he just put it in a place that allowed his art to function free of entanglements(Carlin, Hendra, 2009, pg285).”

The way George Carlin appeared to have found his “home” to live his personal life, would it be the same manner in which people nowadays who make media their second life? How real the “life” would be in that sense? Before that, is there such a thing as “real life” anymore? Well, George Carlin gave a statement of “When you're born, you get a ticket to the freak show”(George Carlin Quote) has clearly indicated his antagonistic view that we are living in a fake world-a place he did not want to reside. Perhaps there is no “real life” anymore! Cultural theorists such as Umberto Eco believes that the reality that we are in is a "falsehood" which we enjoy in "fullness". Therefore, to attain the real thing, it must fabricate the absolute fake (Eco, pg8) because reality is just a fantasy (Eco, pg15). Eco explains that it is not the authenticity of a piece it counts but the amazing information it conveys that can improve the reality (Eco, pg15).

According to Ken Wilber, in the reality that we are in, we have come to the awareness that there are problems inherent in its own organisation and we have run up against our own limitations for a resolution. He explains that this is because the modern is struggling to give way to the postmodern and the the solution of this problem is perhaps the creation of a new one (Wilber, 1996, pg68). For that, Darren Tofts in his “the World Will Be Tiön”, displays that postmodenism deflects the idea of an absolute reality in favour of high fidelity facsimiles, suggesting that the movement from analogue to digital media is a vital event in the diminution of reality's a priori status (Tolfs, pg2). Probably, virtual world may take care of the safety for us to expose what we are missing so that we can begin to accept ourselves as what we really are (Turkle, 1995, pg 263).

For an example, imagine a man with a fattened nose, protruding tongue, upward slanting eyes, who, at birth, inherited Down Syndrome. What would his social life be? Activities like hanging out with friends, catching out some great movies in the cinema, engaging in a relationship and etc-all seem impracticable, at least to a certain sense, for this man to “really” take joy in. Thus, he chooses to involve himself in a virtual world, a genre of online community in the form of computer-based simulated environment where users can interact with each other (Bishop, 2009). Why would he do that? Perhaps, the moving factors he engages in virtual world is that he craves for “some changes” in a new environment which are hard to achieve in real life.

The Ecological Cognition Framework (ECF) developed by Bishop (2007a; 2007c) indicates five binary opposition forces that are “activated” when a change occurs in a person’s environment. They are: (1)social-antisocial, (2)creative-destructive, (3)order-chaos, (4)vengeance-forgiveness, and (5)existential-thanatotic. These are what that people are experiencing when online, things that provide stimuli and create impetuses for people to go online.To elaborate them, firstly, one may be extremely social when online, participating himself a lot perhaps in the forum discussions. Secondly, the new environment may have driven him to be more creative to solve problems and create contents. Also, being online may enable him to create an order in his life, where he carries out actions such as organising bookmarks and rearranging pages. Subsequently, perhaps he loves unleashing his vengeance by being aggressive online, conducting activities like flaming and posting negative feedback on other community members. The existential force would allow someone to exist in a different form such as being a dragon-slaying warrior in the virtual space of an online fantasy role-playing game. Undeniably, the emergence of identity fraud may also be the outcome of these factors where people would abuse them to commit crimes. Identity Fraud means the fraudulent use of an individual's identifying information to commit crimes, unlawfully establish credit accounts, secure loans, or enter into contracts. Identity fraud occurs when a criminal uses personal information, such as a Social Security Number or credit card account number, to steal financial resources (What is Identity Fraud?).

When many things are impossible in the real world, virtual world opens the gate to enable people out there in engaging activities that are very different from their everyday face-to-face interactions and experiences. Hence, more and more people are spending exorbitant amounts of time online as a normal part of everyday life: playing games, shopping, maintaining friendships via instant messenger and email, getting news, etc (Lee, Hoadley, 2006). To prove it, over 80% of the nation's teenagers go online -and many of them can scarcely remember what the world was like when people were not always connected (Pew Internet, 2005). Over 43% spend more than an hour per day online, and the majority of teens (57%) also prefer the Internet to the telephone (Brignall & Valley, 2005).

According to Turkle (1995), although the line of demarcation between reality and virtuality is increasingly blurred, people are comfortable with substituting representations of the reality for the real. And this is the problem-It is as though the overlap between real and virtual effectively causes no practical reasons to separate the two. In this case, it is essential to note the difference between immersion(representation) and interactivity(communication) to to rethink textuality, literary theory and the cognitive processing of texts in the light of the new modes of artistic world(so that in a way or two will assist us in the construction for a real, or otherwise better life virtually, hopefully).

Marie-Laure Ryan (1994) explains that immersion “depends on the vividness of the display where its factors are closely related to the devices that lead to realism in representation”. She points out that immersion has a need to project a three-dimensional picture, an effect where Steuer (81) marks as “depth of information”, which is a function of a resolution display(For example: the amount of data encoded in the transmission channel). Apart from that, the "breadth of information" proposed also by Steuer unravels immersion as "the number of sensory dimensions simultaneously presented." To elaborate, breadth of information is achieved through the collaboration of multiple media: image, sound, olfactory sign as well as though the use of technical devices allowing tactile sensations (81). On the other hand, Marie-Laure Ryan describes interactivity as “the power of the user to modify the environment”. Also, she indicates an important point that:

“When navigating the virtual world, we have to note that moving the sensors and enjoying freedom of movement do not in themselves ensure an interactive relation between a user and an environment: the user could derive his entire satisfaction from the exploration of the surrounding domain. He would be actively involved in the virtual world, but his actions would bear no lasting consequences.” (Ryan, 1994)

Thus, in a truly interactive system, two way communication has to be the virtual world must respond to to the user's actions. Importantly, when it comes to computer-generated virtual reality, we have to understand that there is nothing intrinsically incompatible between immersion and interactivity (Ryan ,1994). Just like in real life that the greater our freedom to act, the deeper our bond to the environment and hence, the more interactive a virtual world, the more immersive the experience(Ryan, 1994). Immersion and interactivity do not stand in conflict-or at least not necessarily. Immersion may offer an occasional threat to interactivity, but the converse does not hold. To illustrate the “threat”, following McLuhan, Steuer suggests that the vividness of a virtual world may "decrease a subject's ability to mindfully interact with it in real time" (Steuer, pg90). If a computer-generated environment is so rich in "fictional truths" that its exploration offers great rewards, why would the user bother to work on it?

In fact, there is a good reason for virtual reality to combine these 2 types of experiences. To explain, in the real world, we act with the body by pointing at things, manipulating them, and working on them with tools, using them as an instrument of exploration by walking around the world and moving the sensors. In virtual reality, we interact with a world that is experienced as existing autonomously because this world is accessible to many senses, particularly to the sense of touch. The bodily participation of the user in virtual reality can be termed world-creative in the same sense that performing actions in the real world can be said to create reality (Ryan, 1994). This occurs through the mediation of the body. "Our body is our interface," claims William Brickemp in a VR manifesto (quoted in Pimentel and Texeira, 1993, pg160). Therefore, the authenticity of virtual reality can be brought to a higher level of validity by reconciling immersion and interactivity because we are able to feel a greater sense of presence. The question to ponder now is whether engrossing ourselves into it bring more harm than good or the other way around?

Joshua Clover, in his “Edge of Construct” depicts digital immersion can be “bad”, that it becomes hard to discern one's true identity, resulting one to experience “an endless confusion of insides and outsides” (2004, pg28). In this case, Clover is suggesting a possible outcome of identity crisis, which in the philosophical sense has a great deal with the body-mind problems. Before asserting that the virtual reality is a place where one's identity belongs, we must accept that in the psychical real world, textual creation is also a creation ex nihilo that excludes the creator from the creation-a purely mental event where people do not belong to the world of their fictions! If a mind may conceive a world from the outside, a body always experiences it from the inside (Ryan 1994). As a relation involving the body, the interactivity of virtual reality immerses the user in a world already in place; as a process involving the mind, it turns the user's relation to this world into a creative membership. Therefore, rather than performing a creation through a diegetic (i.e. descriptive) use of language, we should take believe that the most immersive forms of textual interactivity are those in which the user's contributions where a dialogic and live interaction with other members in the community exist. In this case, perhaps virtual reality is the perfect reality to live out a true life (Ryan 1994).

A good instance of virtual reality is Second Life-a sophisticated, online 3D digital world that is populated by customisable onscreen characters called avatars who represent individual members (What is Second Life?). They perform routines like what we do in the physical world: meeting, interacting, playing, building, dating, and etc. Since buying and selling are possible in Second Life, this have caught the imagination of the Internet's heaviest hitters, who see it as the possible future of online commerce (What is Second Life?). Some insights about Second Life Economies:

“our users create, merchandise, and sell virtual goods as part of the largest user-generated 3D virtual goods economy in the world. By any measure - number of items, transactions, dollar value, revenues earned - Second Life is the leader. In 2009, Second Life Residents earned more than twice that amount - US$55 million- while the total size of the Second Life economy grew 65% to US$567 million.” (Linden, 2010)

Lastly, can we fall in love with avatars? Yes in future but not now. One of the reasons is because not all current users in the virtual world embrace the reality. Their attitude towards virtual avatars is comparable to Warner's discussion of 'the principle of negativity (Warner, 1990, pg42): “the process by which when one enters the public is to erase one’s private self (and rendering ethos, the persona of the speaker/writer, irrelevant) and assume a public mantle of anonymity so as to evoke a purely public figuration by which ‘arguments, not persons, are judged”. People participate in the online world partly to erase or replace one's real world embodiment and embodied statues features of race, class, gender, and etc. People are not putting their “real selves” into it- They negate their actual identities and posit new virtual personas. Avatar to them is what Boellstorff would call it as a “techne” that helps constitute the gap between private and public identity.When this happens, the avatar inherits all of the dualisms that afflict all performing objects and it may be perceived either as living people or as lifeless dolls (Manning, 2009).

In conclusion, there are problems inherent in the reality that we are in today. These problems emerge perhaps as a result of how we are slowly embracing postmodernism attitude in our lives. Inconsistency in our physical world becomes apparent and this blurs our vision to regard our reality as “real”. The new creation of virtual reality allows us to experience the “realness” as never before. Thus, more and more people seek it as an alternative to physical world. For we are the new generation of users who try making media our second life, we still cannot solve the “confusion” of the separation of physical word and virtual world-the line between these two is still blur. This portrays why some of us experience identity crisis. At this moment, we are not yet capable to fully “live real” in virtual world. Loving an avatar is hence not possible in the meantime. However, virtual world itself would manifest and continue to grow in maturity. Sooner in future, virtual world will become more prominent and useful in all ways. Perhaps it will be the reality for us to live a real life. Hence, when things are still in the mists, we may regard virtual world from another angle-perhaps not as a place for to seek our for “realness” but “a space for growth”. As Turkle (1995) says:

“Virtuality need not be a prison. It can be the raft, the ladder, the transitional space, the moratorium, that is discarded after reaching greater freedom. We don't have to reject life on the screen, but we don't have to treat it as an alternative life either. We can use it as a space for growth ... Like the anthropologist returning home from a foreign culture, the voyager in virtuality can return to a real world better equipped to understand its artifices. (Turkle, 1995, p. 263)”

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Paradox of our time...

The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider Freeways ,but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness.

We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.

We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.

We've learned how to make a living, but not a life. We've added years to life not life to years. We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbour. We conquered outer space but not inner space. We've done larger things, but not better things.

We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul. We've conquered the atom, but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We've learned to rush, but not to wait. We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less.

These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships. These are the days of two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill. It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom. A time when technology can bring this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to share this insight, or to just hit delete...

(From the mind of George Carlin)

Case of a Creator Being a Failure

In the outcome of my design, the production of interesting results (an effort for reaching supercivilization) has curiously set me off to connect with my creations. Undergone the conversion into 3 dimension, I took a trip to the world I created just to interact with the creatures in their own "sense". By the way, I am the Creator of all things.

My experiencing moments on Earth made me realise that my Divine plan has been, after all, a major failure (In a sense when I relate it with what I initially constructed this world for). Indeed, look at my work: War, Disease, Death, Destruction, Hunger, Filth, Poverty, Torture, Crime, Corruption, and the Ice Capades. Something is definitely wrong. This is not good work.

Humanity seeks truth from all directions including (but not limited to) areas in philosophy, science and religions. It was funny, seriously, studying at how they would act just to defend their beliefs.

The sword of God, the blood of the lamb. Vengeance is mine, onward Religious soldiers. Millions of dead people. Ha! For thousands of years all the bloodiest and most brutal wars have been based on religious hatred-Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Jews, all taking turns killing one another. The reason… They claim all because I said so?!

Why would I want to get such effect out of inflicting pain to them? I did not benefit from it. Besides, when their existence was almost entirely pointless in the first place, they should understand there were neither evolutionary benefit to them, nor their dependants and species, in their desires to accomplish things and improve themselves. It is just a big waste of their effort.

Outcome like this, I need to admit that, somehow, it was part of my factor that resulted such a thing. I'm not
all-powerful, all-perfect, all-knowing and all-wise. I did not expect things would turn out to be like this. It was embarrassing. What a shame. Just to make myself feel good, It was rather amusing that my imperfections fabricated some spectacular features.

For example, religions regarded me differently. Christianity viewed me as the God who set up the special list of ten things called "The 10 commandments" which I require people to abide to. In addition, they made me a fictional book called the Bible and it has been the number one selling books of all time.

Gosh! This is hilarious. I am truly astonished by their creativity. They claimed I created them in my image and likeness; however, from my observations, it was evidently that they crafted me in their own images and likeness! The one I love the most was that they said I exist in all 3 forms-The Holy Trinity.

According to the widely used calendar, I was in the year 2010. While exploring this epic failed world that I made, somehow I was invited for an interview after some people discovered that I was one of the members of the Holy Trinity. Though Jesus Christ is not my name, I felt pleasurable with this identity as a guest in the Late Show with David Letterman. Cool! It was the time for a gag!

(Initial "DL" for David Letterman)

DL    : Ladies and Gentleman, we are privileged to have with us a man known all
     over the world as the prince of peace- Jesus Christ. How are you Jesus?

I     : Fine, thanks and let me say, it's great to be back.

DL     : Can you tell us, after all this time, why you came back?

I     : Mostly nostalgia. Yea… I'm here also to basically clarify some issues.

DL     : (confused) Eh, what do you mean?

I     : Most of the things from the Bible which you are reading now are just
     invented tales. Some are true but most are just false stories.

DL     : Tell me about the miracles you have performed.

I     : (giggling) Well, not counting the loaves and the fishes, I have done a total of
     107 miracles...

DL     : Why don't you count the loaves and the fishes?

I     : Well, technically, that one wasn't a miracle.

DL     : It wasn't?!

I     : Yeap, it turned out a lot of people were putting them back. Didn't like them.
     Actually not all those miracles were pure miracles anyway.

DL     : Are you saying that all the miracles you have performed weren't miracles at all?
     What were they then?

I     : Sort of. Well, some of them were parlour tricks, optical illusions, mass hypnosis.
     We had hallucinations, even acupressure. That was how I cured most of the
     blind guys- acupressure.

DL     : How about the one where you turned the water into wine?

I     : Err…I couldn't recall about the water and wine thing. However, I did remember
     turning apple juice into milk on one occasion.

DL     : What do you think about Christianity?

I     : Well, I'm a little embarrassed by it. Uh, if I had to do it over again, I think I
     would start one of them Eastern religions like Buddha did.

DL     : (shocked) You wouldn't want to be a Christian?

I     : No. I would never want to be a member of any group whose symbol is a man
     nailed onto two pieces of wood. Especially if it's me!

By this time, incalculable phone calls jammed up the customer service hotlines of the TV station. Inevitably, the show triggered an uproar and offended the public. Many religious people got insulted and demanded viciously the station to stop airing the show. They thought this was some kind of ludicrous joke and apparently it did not provide them with a great deal of entertainment. The concern was brought to the awareness of the host.

DL     : I'm sorry sir. Are you really God? It seems that people out there are having a
     dispute over your identity. Seriously, this does not help in your credibility. So if
     you're just here to fool around……

I     : WHAT?!!!

I     : (Splashhhh….)

(To conclude, the creature (human races) still shared a common ignorance to the precision of why I positioned them for. Being merely the manipulated variables, they were lost as a species, of which I initially presumed them to be able to generate some innovative findings for my experiment. It seemed that the problem still revolved around the exaggerated reality of meaningless illusions which they experience in their conscious sphere. The key for them to unlock the next dimension appear to be impossible, at least for the time being, looking at the estimation at the present rate of their spirituality consumption. Hence, hypothesis rejected…)

How does Freaks explore the notion of subversives bodies?

In 1932, film director, Tod Browning had produced a breath-taking film entitled "Freaks". Commissioned by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc (MGM), "Freaks" is a straightforward horror film which gives an unprecedented idea into the world of the side show. By featuring a large cast of genuine freak show artistes, the film gathers a reputation as a perverse masterpiece and has been read as a commentary on the studio system that treats all its talent like sideshow performers, as trashy exploitation, as a poignant fairy tale, as a grim morality play. Indeed, a film as such has shocked the audience with affect of nausea, so much so that not only its own studio withdrew it, the film also was banned outright in Britain and other countries, languishing in vaults for more than thirty years until it was premiered anew in 1962. Judging from this impact, it is interesting to investigate why the production of "Freaks" which fetches a great deal in the exploitation of handicaps for a profit would occur in the first place, considering that there was this Motion Production Code in position to govern the content of the film. How does Freaks explore the notion of subversive bodies and why was this possible in the pre-code period?

Therefore, in this essay, I attempt to discuss the Pre-code Hollywood era. Next, questioning the nature of the film "Freaks", I describe how "Freaks was able to subvert an established film regulation in order to portray the possibility of its existence in that period.

First and foremost, the "Pre-Code Hollywood era" refers to a roughly 5 years period in film history, beginning with the widespread adoption of sound in 1929 and ending on July 1, 1934, with the inauguration of the Production Code Administration and a policy of rigid censorship (Lasalle 2005). The reason why it is called "Pre-code" is because during the period, there was, in fact, an existence of a Production Code-a code of ethics and practices which sought to determine what the studio could portray on screen (Lasalle 2005). Matthew Bernstein, in his book, Controlling Hollywood: censorship and regulation in the studio era (1999 pg 88) details 3 functions of this production code which are: (1) To mediate points of social conflict between the industry trade association between industry and various external regulatory agencies, (2) To institute censorship to stave off the passage of regulatory legislation and (3) help producers avoid interference by state agencies in the distribution and exhibition of features. In short, the code basically contained a set of "General Principles" and a list of "Particular Applications".

Such a code was adopted by the Board of Directors of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America, Inc. (MPPDA) in March 1930 where its administrators relied heavily on their knowledge of the practices of the various national, state and municipal censor boards in developing the detailed operation of the code (Maltby 2003). However, in an effort to function the code's administration of censorship at the level of representation, the production code was just blithely ignored and received much less attention for a variety of reasons (LaSalle 2005). In asking why a film like "Freaks" could explore the notion of subversive bodies to exist in the pre-code Hollywood period, we begin to investigate some of the reasons.

Firstly, because the production code itself was based upon a list of guidelines, "the "Don'ts and Becarefuls of 1927" that was derived of an analysis made by censor board (which was made up of members from the Women's and Protestant groups as according to Garth Jowett's "The democratic Art" in 1976) over a period of several years (Jacobs 1991), the agreements that underlay the code have often been blamed for Hollywood's lack of realism (Maltby 2003). To explain this, the impracticability of the code can be seen here when instead of attempting to improve the quality of the film, the code has the interest only in the concern for the widespread conviction that children would be "coached" in sophisticated, violent, or antisocial behaviour through their attendance at motion picture (Maltby 2003). Indeed, narrow, unenlightened and self-interest motive behind the effort in the construction of this code did not impress the public. The public did not like

Secondly, fingers could also be pointed to the governments for their political timidity. To illustrate this, being in authority, the government could easily enforce the code's censorship guidelines; however, pressure was constantly and invisibly exerted throughout the production process (Bernstein, 1999, pg 96). That is, an explanation of the rhetoric manifestation or "work" of censorship involves not an examination of specific cases but a conception of the industry as the site of a discursive logic.

This possibly was due to the need to compromise for 2 main purposes: (1) for economic advantage and, (2) to serve the industry's political interest (Bernstein, 1999, pg 88). In elaboration, firstly, for the economic benefit, because foreign revenue consistently accounted for about 35% of Hollywood's gross income (Bernstein, 1999, pg 116), the domination of the market of the world would, at least, depend on the external profit they could get from other countries. Secondly, for the industry's political intention, this was a strategy as a defence against external treat (Hays, 1955, pg 343). In producing the film, not only the governments would want to persuade the domestic audience that its product were neither morally nor economically damaging, they also wanted to convince foreign censors and trade representatives that its outage was culturally inoffensive and ideologically neutral (Ellwood and Krows, 1994). In short, the integration of foreign and domestic matters was a necessary logical step toward greater bureaucratic efficiency (Wilson, 1928).

Debating about economic, we must not forget that the introduction of the Code was at the time when the Great Depression intervened the country. Major studio companies had learned by then that in order to seek income, the trade negotiations could not be divorced from the issue of motion picture content (Bernstein 1999, pg 121). For survival sake, they had to continue producing films because they understand that the advertising power of the movies was widely recognised to being able to stimulate consumer demand besides giving them a privileged standing within the institutions of capitalist enterprise as fashion leaders and trendsetters (Eckert, 1978).
Subsequently, what they eventually did was to integrate self-regulation as part of their film production under their system (Bernstein, 1999, pg 99). Self-regulation was a function of the interplay between the film industry and a loose coalition of reform groups and state regulatory agencies whereby the industry censors (such as reflecting changes of narrative and requesting revisions in scripts) generally in consultation only with writers, directors, and producers. In elaboration, in the production of "Freaks", not only MPPDA was the one who had opinions, MGM executives also made a fuss about Browning's film especially in the selection casting choices (Klein, 2009) However, neither MPPDA's complaints nor those of studio members could stop the head of MGM, Irving Thalberg, who fascinated a lot of Browning's work, from completing the film. The determination of Thalberg not to comply with others' conflicting suggestions proved how much he loved regulating the film in this own way.

Therefore, how this being carried out was through a use of indirect modes of representation (Bernstein, 199, pg 94). In this case, in the production of a film, what would be done was that the directors would seek to "reduce" ambiguity wherever possible and to negotiate how explicit films could be. This could be accomplished with 3 methods: (1) From images as in a construction of blatantly scenes or sequences, (2) From language as in the treatment of dialogue and (3) From sound as in the usage of music to imply the intended meaning. In short, the studio just strove to find some ways of suggestion of what that could not be directly filmed even though the outcome of this was that industry makes films which do not clarify the explanatory status and utility of the idea of the industry in the analysis of films (Bernstein, 199, pg 94).

According to the code from MPPDA, adultery and illicit sex could not be shown explicitly or come along with a number of related actions such as seduction and money changing hands (Bernstein, 1999, pg97).In "Freaks", there are a number of deviant sex scenes such as Cleopatra's salacious dropping of her cloak to tempt the midget Hans, a kiss given to one Siamese twin that's clearly felt by the other, a lustful look from hermaphrodite Josephine at Hercules that triggers a brutal punch in the face (Vieira, 1993).To exemplify the indirect modes of representation in investigating how it explores the notion of subversive bodies, Tod Browning, maintained time-word melodramatic convention to portray the entire action. In a construction of blatantly scenes and sequences through the use images, Browning made sure the scene was not too erotic or too suggestive-when it was about to cross the line, the film was cut into another scene. To encourage the elision or effacement of sensitive subjects, Browning did a great job in allowing the audiences a relatively free rein to impose his or her desires upon the partially completed or displaced images on the screen. In this case, explicit sex events was not shown on screen and offensive ideas survived though it came at the price of an instability of meaning (Bernstein, 199, pg 94)

However, a large part of the film "Freaks" has deliberately crossed the line, subverting the film regulation. In the MPPDA archive, there are 2 codes which state:

"there should be no dialogue or scenes indicating that all , or a majority of the members of
any professional group , are unethical, immoral, given to the criminal activities and the like"
and

"where a given member of any profession is to be a heavy or unsympathetic character, this
should be off-set showing upright members of the same profession condemning the
unethical acts or conduct of the heavy or unsympathetic character"

In explanation, Tod Browning , in this case, has literally and directly emphasized the clear mode of unethical and immoral representation in "Freaks". The film depicted the ordinary characters, Cleopatra and Hercules, to be the ones who were wicked. For example, in the wedding banquette scene, Browning had both of them engaged evidently in some immoral activities. In the treatment of dialogue, utterances such as "You dirty slimy freaks, FREAKS, FREAKS!!!" and "Must Mama take you horsy back ride?" could be heard. As of the image wise, we could notice a midget, Hans, being lifted up and passed around to be toyed like a baby. Apparently, Browning had the intention to display the great humiliation helplessly taken by the freak.

Inevitably, "Freaks" abounds extensively with subversions of conventional morality, emphasising particularly on physical deformity by simultaneously titillating and terrorizing audiences with tableaux of a subculture populated by the physically "abnormal" (Vieira, 1993). The marketing strategy for it was rather demoralizing: Instead of clueing the potential audience in that the film was going to be sympathetic, to show malformed human beings in a more positive light, they came up film title like "FREAKS" and with such gems as "Can a full grown woman truly love a MIDGET?" and "We'll Make Her One of Us!' (Lorefice, 2002).

Perhaps Robert Sklar was correct when in his book, Movie-Made America: A Cultural History of American Movies, that he mentioned:

"Hollywood's movie-makers perpetrated one of the most remarkable challenges to
traditional values in the history of mass commercial entertainment. The movies called into
question sexual propriety, social decorum and the institutions of law and order."

To conclude, "Freaks" explored the notion of subversive bodies by means of its film representations that exploited the disables'' physical differences as a method and for horrifying the primarily able-bodied audience under the self-regulating production system that enabled the film to exist in the Pre-Code era. Pre-code might be a time of an unfiltered expression of how people felt about life whereby true voice without the countervailing influence of censorship was possible; we may need to know that though "Freaks" might have successfully assaulted and horrified the contemporary audiences, who were accustomed to the conventions of the freak show, it was possible also that the disabled actors were shot for a quaint tale of love and revenge. Perhaps Browning was not an exploiter after all. Perhaps he was just making his film for the wrong audience.

Bibliography

Characterization of Newspapers Editors , Reporters and Publishers in Motion Picture," Reel 12, MPPDA Achieve

Eckert, Charles (1978), "the Carol Lombard in Macy's Window

Ellwood, David W and Krows, Robert , (1994)"Hollywood in EuropeL Experience of a Cultural Hemogomy" Amsterdam VU University Press, pg 68-93

Hays, Will, (1955), "Momoirs, pg 343, New York Doubleday

Jacobs, lea, (1991)" The Wages of Sin: Censorship and Fallen women Film, 1928-1942, University of Wisconsis Pressm Madison, Chp 5

Jowett, Garth, Film, (1976), "The democratic Art", Little Brown, Boston

Klein, Amanda (2009) , Teaching Tod Browning's FREAKS, Viewed 3rd June 2010, http://judgmentalobserver.wordpress.com/2009/09/13/teaching-tod-brownings-freaks/
Lasalle, Mick (2005), Pre-Code Hollywood, Viewed 3rd June 2010, http://www.greencine.com/static/primers/precode.jsp

Lorefice, Mike, (2002), "Freaks", Viewed 3rd June 2010, http://www.metalasylum.com/ragingbull/movies/freaks.html

Maltby, Richard (2003), More Sinned Against than Sinning: The Fabrications of "Pre-Code Cinema", Viewed 2nd June 2010, http://archive.sensesofcinema.com/contents/03/29/pre_code_cinema.html

Norden, Martin F. The Cinema of Isolation: A History of Physical Disability in the Movies. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1994

Vieira, Mark A, (1993), Todd Browning's Freak: Production notes and analysis, Viewed 4th June 2010, http://www.brightlightsfilm.com/32/32freaks.php

Robert Sklar, Movie-Made America: A Cultural History of American Movies, Random House, New York, 1975, p. 175

Wilson, John, V, memo to Carl Milliken, November 23, 1928, California Pffice File, Reel 4 MPPDA Archive

What is Hyperreality?

"What is real? When is it real? Why is it real? How real is it?" Questions as such demand how we ascend the world to the field that governs it. We have explored reality from a mental, rational and industrial view-a modern sense perception. To explain, one scientific example is the Newton's theory which states that there is an objective reality where the world which we see exists regardless of our own existence (What is reality?). However, as time passes by, in the reality that we are in, we have come to the awareness that there are problems inherent in its own organization and we have run up against our own limitations for a resolution- the modern is struggling to give way to the postmodern (Wilber pg 68). Therefore, the solution of this problem, according to Ken Wilber, is perhaps the creation of a new one (pg 68).     

The introduction of Hyperrealism is one of the major symptoms of postmodern culture. Asked what is Hyperreality, it is interesting to study some of the notable theorists like Umberto Eco, Jean Baudrillard, Daniel Boorstin and Shawn Parry-Giles who can provide meaningful definitions to it. Umberto Eco, in his "Travels in Hyperreality, says: "The American imagination demands the real thing and, to attain it, must fabricate the absolute fake" (Eco 8). Here he regards Hyperreality as an authentic fake. Almost similarly, Jean Baudrilliad in his "The Precession of Simulacra", he states that Hyperreality is as "The generation by models of a real without origins or reality: a hyperreal" (Baudrillard 2). In here he basically explains Hyperreality as being the simulation of something which never really existed. Now that we have identified 2 definitions of Hyperreality, we shall proceed the discussion a little more in depth with the significance of it, some interesting examples of it, the consequences of it as well as looking into some of the arguments derived from it.    

The birth of Hyperreality came into light slowly as we gradually seek stimulated stimuli to replace our world with a copy one. The explanation for such behaviour, Umberto Eco mentions that it is for the reason to "…illustrate the revivalist awareness of the period when they were built" (Eco pg 28) and "because history will not be imitated. It has to be made." (Eco pg 28). Basically, Eco wants to point out that real world and possible has been undermined (Eco pg 14) and hence, to attain something, it must fabricate the absolute fake (Eco pg 8) because reality is just a fantasy (Eco pg 15). In short, Eco believes that the reality that we are in is a "falsehood" which we enjoy in "fullness". To him, "hyperreality," or the world of "the Absolute Fake," what counts, however, is not the authenticity of a piece but the amazing information it conveys (Eco pg 15)- somehow this suggests the imitations are aimed to improve the reality, bringing the picture of "Hyperreality" to be considered upon as something encouraging and positive.     

Jean Baudrillard explains Hyperreality as "reality by proxy". According to him, the world is being constructed more "real" than real, and where those inhabiting it are "obsessed" with timelessness, perfection, and objectification of the self and so, they take someone else's version of reality on board as their own. Authenticity has been replaced by copy where reality is replaced by a substitute and hence, nothing is "real," though those engaged in the illusion are incapable of seeing it. (Bauldrillard). It seems to him that we are living in a Hyperreality of a culture of deception. Why? To elaborate, for Bauldrillard, one key factor for the creation of Hyperreality is the sign of exchange value which has reliance with consumerism. Thus, when it comes to the frame of "Consumerisms", the confusing simulations for what they imitate, may, in this case, be regarded as a problematic issue. This is because they can indicate something about the owners in the context of a social system and there would then be many emerging consequences due to it. (Bauldrillard). For example, Hyperreality tricks the consciousness into detaching from any real emotional engagement, instead opting for artificial simulation and endless reproductions of fundamentally empty appearance (Bauldrillard). In Bauldrillard concepts of Hyperreality, it seems that his provocative aphorism bends towards a more negative side.    

Overall, both Eco and Bauldrillard have portrayed that Hyperreality indicates the age of simulation we belong, particularly on how it helps in the creation of a human world today (The age of simulation). We are using science and technology to gain power over the world and to create fictional substitute "worlds" in which we have complete control. Various examples of how science and technology are allowing us to reshape the world so it conforms to our desires are being depicted in the essays from Eco and Bauldrillard.    

For a good example to illustrate, Eco, in his essay who plays the role of both social critic and tour guide, takes the reader across an American landscape that he says is being re-created in the image of fake history, fake art, fake nature and fake cities (Travelling through Hyperreality with Umberto Eco) and gives an account of his visit to Disneyland and Disney World where he relates how these places can tell us that technology can provide us with more than nature does. In comparison to Disney, a hyperreality place in which everything is brighter, larger and more entertaining than in everyday life, reality can be disappointing. In explanation, when he travels the artificial river in Disneyland, he sees animatronic imitations of animals. But, on a trip down the real Mississippi, the river fails to reveal its alligators. One may never even get a good look at any crocodiles on the cruise, but the crocodiles at Disney World are always cooperative. (Hyperreality: The authentic fake). In addition to that, when Eco mentions "…their interior is always a disguised supermarket, where you buy obsessively, believing that you are still playing", this easily shows us that the creating a hyperreality world indeed has something to do with what Bauldrilaard has suggested: The existence of Hyperreality is for commercialising and consumerism purpose. In short, the Disney world supplies us with two trends that define the age: the desire to escape the constraints of life through the new magic wand of technology and the desire to pretend that we have done so in invented worlds of simulation (Disney word: Cities of Simulation as Postmodern Utopias) at the cost of us being the passive consumers-a new twist for the same old tricks of capitalism

Next, to understand what hyperreality is, it is crucial to understand the consequences of it. The pervasive use of deceptive simulations to manipulate large numbers of people in the contemporary culture of deconstruction of reality that we are in, according to Utopian philosopher, Herbert Marcuse, is used to satisfy true or false needs, making possible exploitation and escape, or a breakthrough into a new kind of society, based on the right to live fully (Faustian Society). The example of Disney world alone reveals the way technology can promote narcissistic personality traits in those who use it (Disney World: Cities of Simulation as Postmodern Utopias). It is dangerous for it might cause humanity to regress, allowing it to lose itself in an environment of automation, simulation and reassuring intellectual illusions (Disney World: Cities of Simulation as Postmodern Utopias). If the world we live now is exactly like Disney world, we will surely be drawn into fields of engagement in which nothing is at stake. Not only we would stand at a remove from things; to act decisively when the stakes are not real and when there is no danger that we will make a true mistake, we would also be encouraged to encounter other people only through mediations such as computer images, voices, and so on. Interacting with fictional characters in place of people, we are protected from intimacy or the judgment of others (Stoller 1985). Behind the facade of daring exploits and journeys, we will be in a reality in which we always play it safe (Stoller 1985). Simulation, the ultimate imitation of life, therefore, becomes a wall that stands between us and the true experience of life (Stoller 1985).    

In conclusion, as the relevancy of hyperreality in our lives is becoming more important from time to time, not only we need to understand that hyperreality brings about both positive and negative consequences, we should also not to forget that the importance of hyperreality ultimately still lies in the achievements of it. As Eco has pointed out a positive outcome that Hyperreality is aimed at improving the conditions of our reality, we may appreciate hyperreality from this angle that it is part of the larger story of humanity's genuine effort to master its surroundings and turn it into a more human world that is designed around our needs and desires (The Mastery of Life). To enhance the reality might be to indulge ourselves in new period of history of building a new journey of civilization (Faustian society). All our creations including the simulations we bring about are the things which can consciously create a society and culture that expresses the fullness of life. Hence, hyperreality from this sense is good but if we recognise the dark side of it, we then out to efficiently adapt it for good, bringing the fantasy to life.     

(1564 words)

Biography:

Eco, U., "Travels in Hyperreality", London, Picador, 1986.

Baudrillard, J-L., from "The Precession of Simulacra", Simulations, New York, Semiotext[e],
    1983, 1-13

"Baudrillard", <http://www.knowledgerush.com/kr/encyclopedia/Baudrillard>

Disney World: Cities of Simulation as Postmodern Utopias,
    http://www.transparencynow.com/disney2.htm

Faustian Society, viewed May 4^th 2010, <http://www.transparencynow.com/faustian.htm>

Hyperreality, viewed May 4^th 2010,
    <http://www.knowledgerush.com/kr/encyclopedia/Hyperreality>

Stoller, Robert, "A culture based on Fantasy and Acting out", Observing the Erotic
    Imagination (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1985) pp. 58-61.

The Age of Simulation, viewed May 3^rd, <http://www.transparencynow.com/tablesim.htm>

The Mastery of Life, viewed May 3^rd 2010, <http://www.transparencynow.com/mastery.htm>

Disney Distorted Mirror, viewed May3rd 2010,
    <http://www.transparencynow.com/Disney/distable1.htm>

What is Hyperreality?, viewed May 3^rd, <http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-hyperreality.htm>


Traveling Through Hyperreality With Umberto Eco?,
    <http://www.transparencynow.com/eco.htm>

Hyperreality: The Authentic Fake?, viewed May 5^th 2010,
    <http://mediacrit.wetpaint.com/page/Hyperreality:+The+Authentic+Fake>

 

What should I do when facing environmental issues?

Inevitably, similar environmental issues as above have surfaced throughout human history and in answering the above question, one would normally consent with the principle of environmentalism- upholding a practice in protecting natural resources and ecosystems. However, if I were to do something when facing the above predicament, I would resort to the method on which I would lead my good life. In this case, I would just make clear to those oblivious people within my reach, informing them that going green to save the planet is just an effort of waste and there is no point doing it. I believe I have the responsibility to "enlighten" to those who still believe that environmentalism is a correct thing to deal with the problem. I always ask this question: Why when facing environmental problems, we have to conceit and think that somehow we are a threat that we are going to put in jeopardy to this Earth when the fact is that there is nothing wrong with the Earth? The Earth has been here for a very long time and has gone through many major disasters and it will heal itself after a while. The Earth is a self-correcting system. Therefore, when it comes to the notion of "environmentalism", saving the environment is not really saving the environment; perhaps it is saving the humanity, saving ourselves?

Matt Ridley and Bobbi S. Low began (1993) their essay "Can Selfishness Save the Environment" with:


    Conventional wisdom has it that the way to avert global ecological disaster is
    to persuade people to change their selfish habits for the common good.
    A more sensible approach would be to tap a boundless and renewable resource:
    the human propensity for thinking mainly of short term self-interest

The keyword "selfish habits" and "short term self-interest" are the notions that speak forth the intention behind all our efforts in trying to be environmental. In this essay, my main objective is to prove that environmentalism is another arrogant egotistical attempt by human beings- a selfish act! To do it, I am going to portray how humanity conscience towards environmental movement has been twisted along the history. Then I shall explain why preservation or conservation are not of altruistic reasons but for selfish reasons. I will also provide details for why people seem not to recognize the reflection of their own values in conservation movement. Everything here in order to show the role for environmental ethics has not been properly understood in relation to the relevant epistemology, philosophy of science and especially decision theory.

First, we begin from investigating the history for the concern the environmental case. In 1886, Ernst Haeckel (1966) gave the concept of an economy of nature with the name "Ecology", meaning "chaotic free-for-all" but the subsequent arcadian and romantic intellectual counter currents to eighteenth-century rationalism and mechanism had given the proto-ecological notion of natural economy a more integrative and holistic cast-Ecology as it eventually emerged as a distinct discipline of natural history was shaped by a complex of governing metaphors derived from these traditions (Callicott, 1989, pg105). Then, the modern environmental movement, which was a reaction to industrialization, came to light to advocate the sustainable management of resources, and the protection and restoration of the natural environment through changes in public policy and individual behaviour (Fleming and Bethany, 2006)

More recently, the changing centrality of the axiological problem for environmental ethics has then been reiterated to this stage where Tom Regan, in his essay "Intrinsic Value, Quantum Theory and Environmental Ethics" (Callicott, 1989, pg 157) says:

"The development of what can properly be called an environmental ethic requires that we postulate inherent value in nature." Otherwise, a putative environmental ethic would collapse into a "management ethic," an ethical for the "use of the environmental", not an ethic the beneficiary of which is the environment per se"

Regan does not detail much about what the "inherent value in nature" is but Rolston in "Humans Valuing the Natural Environment" (Rolston, 1988, pg1-23), has shown us that the importance of environmental ethics can be valued from these 14 types of different values: (1)life-support, (2)economic, (3)recreational, (4)scientific, (5)aesthetic, (6)genetic-diversity, (7)historical, (8)cultural-symbolization, (9)character-building, (10)diversity-unity, (11)spontaneity and (12)stability, (13)dialectic, (14)life and religious. () According to Regan, inherent value must be objective and independent of any valuing consciousness; however, we mostly ground the inherent value very often only in human being. Thus, this displays how self-interest in us can prove how selfish we are.

In illustration, when applying these values in the modern materialistic world today, we notice environmental affairs tend to bend towards certain value. Mainly, it is for economical reasons. Valuing economic for environmental purpose, this is where when business interrupt the ecosystem to assert its corporate self-interest at the expense of the biosystemic as a whole (Rolston, 1988 pg303). This is accurate as many cases of social responsibility dealing with environmental affairs, actions to "legislate" morality" are seen, at least in minimum essential or common-denominator areas. Apparently, the outcome of this has come to light where management ethic for the commons can be seen– about soil, air, water, pollution, environmental quality, the ozone layer, mutagens, wildlife, endangered species, future generations. For example, in Australia, we have a mass social movement willingly supported by millions of citizens that challenges the most powerful interests in society like The Landcare movement, The anti-litter movement, the green movement, Anti-nuclear movement and others (Hutton and Connors, 1999 and McLeod 1995).

All such movements are examples of a phenomenon throughout the history of mankind that we have been fighting over what to do with public domains, how much to reserve as commons and how much to pass into private ownership. Undeniably, every movement wants to create its environmental policy to provide an ethic for the commons but the problem has yet been solved especially in the trusting of which policy can be helpful to make the world a better and greener place. However, we do know something-ethics is enforced and written into law and therefore be mandatory.

Next, the part when it comes to the ethical considerations in relation to human efforts to conserve the natural environment, we need to understand a few things which people have failed to notice. First, we need understand that no such thing as policy exists in nature. Policy arises when human corporately and deliberately confront their environment (Rolston, 1988, pg 246). The environment is crucially a "commons," that is, a public good. To elaborate on this, the nature does not have the environmental policy; it just appeared in the decade of the 1960s when there was a major ecological revolution-a revolution in consciousness concerning our outlook toward other species and the need to protect the integrity of wild ecosystem. This was when the ecology movement started to rise. One contributing factor that "fired up" this revolution was perhaps the industrial revolution gave rise to modern environmental pollution as it is generally understood today.

As far as valuing economic is the reason to be concerned, we have to put it to our mind that government and big business firms are, strictly speaking, not moral agents at all. They are as instruments of the persons within them they can do large amounts of right and wrong to us from their "invented" policies. (Rolston, 1988, pg 248). We have to be cautions on this because we might end up with them in the same position if we follow what they ask us to do. In addition to that, in regards to the environmental policies they introduce to us, we need to be aware that they are in a way related to capitalism. Hence, we have to recognise that the forces of capitalism may shape us into developing a selfish self for the entire community, a community with an environment which would cultivate selfishness to the residing people. When environmental ethics is rooted into what that regulates humanity, it may be a portrayal of the true colors of Marxism in humanity that we are living a capitalist way of environmental consciousness- we have been made selfish in a world that introduces us the necessity for competing for an environmental conscious life. The consequences from this kind of practical outlook by government and business are large influence in our lives. One of the most important consequences is that we become oblivious to the fact that "environmentalism" is not quite the concern for the protection of the environment but "saving of the humanity".

"Saving the humanity" seems to be one of the reasons Richard Routley has shown to us in his paper entitled "Is There a Need for a New, an Environmental, Ethic?" which was published in 1973. Routley regards the environmental ethic in the western culture as "normal Western ethics" in which he claims it in effect, only instrumental, not intrinsic, value for nonhuman natural entities and nature as a whole (Callicott, 1989, pg 159). Routley intuitively depicts the universal assumption of an axiology in which only people are intrinsically valuable in ethics when good comes first to them and everything else a bad last. Routley calls it as "Basic (human) chauvinism" He demonstrates various examples including actions that mess up the environment and natural things. One of them is the "vanishing species" example in which he shows us that there are situations they would do nothing morally wrong even for the case of extirpating species. Routley shows that all these engagements of environmental degrading activities, permissible actions that rebound on the environment are still narrowly circumscribed.

Now, when extirpating a species can be morally correct in certain cases, it seems that we are now experiencing the difficulties in drawing the line to separate the correct from the wrong. Environmentalism in this case, becomes subjective. Probably, the condition now is that environmentalists are finding hard to judge the right from the wrong when facing environmental problems. Therefore, instead of really "protecting the environment", they become obsessed in saving what wildness remains, just to guarantee that we do not make irrersible mistake (Leopold 1970, pg 190). Apart from that, they support environmental regulation consistent with profitability and the expansion of global capitalism such as resource conservation for long-run profitability and profit-oriented regulation or abolition of pollution-they are typically allied with national and international interest

George Carlin, a social critic, commented his point of view regarding the issue of environment at Madison Square Gardens, New York, live on air as well as to the 6,500 people who were there. Basically, Carlin mentioned that human beings are very self-important and selfish. He stated there is no point saving the planet when we cannot save ourselves yet. Also, Carlin believed that there is nothing wrong in the planet but there is something wrong with the people. (Connor 1997)



    "The planet has been through a lot worse than us. Been through all kinds of things
    worse than us. Been through earthquakes, volcanoes, plate tectonics, continental drift,
    solar flares, sun spots, magnetic storms, the magnetic reversal of the poles...hundreds
    of thousands of years of bombardment by comets and asteroids and meteors,
    worlwide floods, tidal waves, worldwide fires, erosion, cosmic rays, recurring ice
    ages...And we think some plastic bags, and some aluminum cans are going to make a
    difference? The planet...the planet...the planet isn't going anywhere. WE
    ARE!"(George Carlin-The Planet is Fine)

Derek Parfit, an Oxford philosopher, ended his book "Reason and Persons" with a note somehow similar to the idea of Carlin. He wrote: "The Earth will remain inhabitable for at least another billion years. Civilization began only a few thousand years ago. If we do not destroy mankind, these few thousands year may be only a tiny fraction of the whole civilized human history…" (1984, pg 454)

On the basis of these reflections what conclusions may be reached? I have argued that how we value environmental ethic has shown us that we failed to recognize the reflection in the environmental ethics. I have depicted the situation in which we are now experiencing ourselves being constantly torn between the drive to advance our self interest and the "real" ethics. Both ethic and self-interest seem to be in conflict and mixed up together. The role for environmental ethics has not been properly understood in relation to the relevant epistemology, philosophy of science and especially decision theory. Therefore, it is vital that when it comes to questions dealing with ethical issues, we need to know are we in the right track to see the right picture and provide the right answer. In the modern world today, when asked about what to do in regards to an environmental question, I believe we need to ask ourselves are we valuing it mainly for our self-interest because if it is, we then are oblivious to that entire ethical understanding for we are experiencing a failure in looking the picture genuinely.

(2132 words)

Bibliography:

Callicott, Baird (1989), "The Defense of the Land Ethic", State University of New York Press, Albany.

Connor, James O, 1997, Socialism and Ecology, Guilford Press, London

Fleming, James R.; Bethany R. Knorr. "History of the Clean Air Act". American Meteorological Society. http://www.ametsoc.org/sloan/cleanair/. Retrieved 2006-02-14

George Carlin-The Planet is Fine, viewed June 8^th, http://www.icomedytv.com/Comedy-Videos/ID/335/George-Carlin--The-Planet-Is-Fine-Transcript-0739.aspx

Haeckel, Ernst, (1966), "Generelle Morphologie der Organismen, 2 vols, Berlin, Reimer

Hutton, Drew &amp; Connors, Libby (1999), A history of Australian Environmental movement. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, New York

McLeod, Roy (1995). "Resistance to Nuclear Technology: Optimists, Opportunists and Opposition in Australian Nuclear History" in Martin Bauer (ed) Resistance to New Technology, Cambridge University Press, pp. 171-177.

Leopold, Aldo, "the round River," in A Sand County Almanac (New York: Sierra Club/Ballantine Books, 1970), p 190

Parfit, Derek, (1984) Reasons and Persons, Clarendon Press, Oxford, pg 454

Rolston, Holmes (1988). "Environmental Ethics: Environmental Policy: An Ethic of the Commons", Temple University Press,

Ridley, Matt and Low, Bobbi (1993), "Can Selfishness Save The Environment?",viewed 8^th June 2010, http://people.umass.edu/envsc101/e101/selfish.pdf

A case study about a Dementia patient:

Fed up by those medications and doses of injection, she cannot help but to endure all these that doctors say are good for her. Why? Alzheimer B12 deficiency, to be exact, is the reason for this 82-year-old Chinese lady, who suffers a degree of memory loss. A wistful life she has, considering that she has no children and has a sister who does not care for her. Yet, she is able to function herself-she can drive but not until recently when her condition worsens. Asked who is there to help her? Well, there used to be a maid who took care of her but was fired after the lady got suspicious about the maid stealing things in her house. Fortunately, she has an adopted child who rings her daily, a good friend from Malacca who visits her monthly and a caring neighbour who would occasionally share her some food. Being a dementia patient, her condition deteriorates from time to time and now, she has to force herself into an everyday routine in which she has to perform tasks which seem either too difficult or unfamiliar. For example, after going through an eye operation which has impaired her vision, she has trouble locating her door keys and she would then be frustrated every time when she wants to go out. She does not buy food from outside and her diet turns bad-she is constantly complaining having no appetite. Also, afraid that burglars may break into her house, she sometimes becomes very anxious and would stay up the entire night in front of the main door just to feel safer. Hence, a light sleeper she is. Not only that, she has developed into quite an opinionated, stubborn and hot tempered person who prefers doing things herself and does not like assistance from others. Even the church people dare not pay her a visit anymore! Interestingly, she is not frightened by the entities in her hallucination. She is also a talkative person but sadly her conversations always revolve around the questioning of what mistakes have she done to deserve and suffer all these punishments. It is, indeed, upsetting to see her experiencing every moment of her life as such. Depression, wandering, anxious or agitated behaviours, hallucinations, and false ideas are some of the common behaviours a person with dementia has. In undergoing such a life, it can be painful for the patient. Thus, as care givers, we may help them to attend to the right context of dementia care by understanding why and how certain behaviour is taking place, tracking when the problem occurs and what emotions are involved so that we can provide a better care from a better attention.