In his address to the Ecotechnic Institute in 1980, William S. Burroughs argues the case that the proverbial Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are Famine, Plague, War, and Death. Burroughs argues that human beings are in control of all four of these aspects, as opposed to the four horsemen proposed by Zizek. Burroughs discusses the practical applications of the four horsemen in terms of alliance in modern times. For example, he argues that War and Plague are in alliance and have been exerted most notably in the form of chemical and biological warfare. He argues that we have created the problem by merging these forces.
Arguably the most salient point that Burroughs makes is that human beings are not operating at full capacity. He equates humans to the example of the first airplane. While this was a revolutionary invention at the time, the Wright Brothers' invention was incredibly limited in scope. Now, compared to the modern jetliner, this is a completely rudimentary device. Burroughs believes that human beings will never truly reach full potential.
I disagree.
In our era, humans strive to outdo those who came before each and every day. With so many advances in the fields of medicine and technology, human beings are constantly surpassing yesterday and moving towards a stronger tomorrow. Although Burroughs makes a very compelling point, the fact is that at the rate we are moving, it is very feasible for humans to operate at full capacity.
I agree with your disagreement of Burroughs point that says that humans don't operate at their full potential. His examples don't prove that we are incapable of moving forward. Maybe the first airplane was not the most stable thing, but it was the first step that led to many other steps which resulted in the creation of the beautiful airplanes we have now.
ReplyDeleteI can't see a society of true-blooded Americans who could justifiably claim that they have run out out of innovative spirit or who would simply stop trying to reach new heights. I doubt that humanity can reach a point at which it can no longer create. Think of the first settlers on American soil; they were surely astounded by the fact that they traveled thousands of miles to a land which had previously never existed in their sphere of consciousness. Fast forward some 200 years and we see the advent of the steam engine once again fulfilling people's wildest dreams. Of course, cars, telegraphs, phones, computers, flight, and many other advances occur, but the greatest similarity of them all is the fact that doubtfully any one of those original settlers (or any person from that era) could have even dreamt of any of these miracles.
ReplyDeleteTherefore, I would claim that we are in the same position as those settlers living in a happy closed-minded world with all the technology that we nee. I find it to be dangerous and pessimistic to assign a limit to the creativity of the human mind.
I completely agree with your idea that so many of our actions benefit our society, but as we have learned and discussed in class, our actions also have downsides, whether we intend them to have negatives or not. I believe that if we as humans could strive to focus on more beneficial actions to current problems rather than focus on possible dilemmas in the future, we will have a better chance at living in a world without the fear of an apocalypse. Sure, it's hard to make everyone change for the better, but if we start on something small, we can inch by inch make the world a better place and escape the impending apocalypse.
ReplyDelete