Reflections 29 July

What is the difference between a man and an animal? Well 50 minutes of heated, animated and sometimes funny discussion arguments weren't enough for us to come to a conclusion. Personally the only visible difference I see is that humans have a knack for wearing clothes, while animals, well they are of the perception that natural beauty is all that matters! :P
There were many points that my classmates perceived to be major differences. First was the fact that human beings reason, while animals act only instinctively. I strongly disagree with that statement as firstly its fallacious to generalize such a large group of beings and make one categorical statement about them! But nevertheless it’s wrong to say that animals ALWAYS act instinctively. Birds for instance have their entire migration routes planned to save them from the winter frost of various continents. They even fly in various formations to save energy and for aero-dynamical reasons! How can we then say that animal’s don’t reason? It is also wrong to generalize and say that even humans always act with appropriate reasoning. There are countless instances in one's life where emotion is the only ‘reason’ for committing a particular course of action. One just needs to ask Zinedine Zidane about emotions taking the driver’s seat in his life to know what I am talking about.
The second point of difference was that humans have an effective language to communicate while animals don’t. I personally thought that that was ridiculous. Just because we don’t understand animal languages does not mean that they don’t have one. This just epitomized our own shortcomings towards things we don’t comprehend. Language is an essential part of every organism’s life and activity! Animals may be conversing through their barks or their roars and we humans might just never know! We are denying the fact that a certain knowledge stream exists simply because we do not possess it yet!

Our teacher argued that humans have a freewill will animals do not. Again I just could not accept that statement. We can provide counter arguments both ways to prove this statement fallacious. Humans don’t always have a free-will ( just think of an under fire employee wanting to leave everything and go for a vacation, but just cannot due to societal and community constraints) and animals also can possess free will ( a whale cruising aimlessly through the high seas).

Since we could not find any answers, I came to a conclusion that the question itself was an impossible question to answer. To answer such a question one would need to generalize on a large scale basis, and this would only lead to grave inaccuracies! We just cannot generalize and say that all animals don’t reason or all humans never react instinctively without reason. There’s always an exception, and in this case, much more than a sole one! There isn’t much of a natural difference between humans and animals, and if science is to be truly counseled, a man is also a part of the animal category.

THE KITE RUNNER K@W

Theory Of Knowledge
Knowledge @ Work

The Kite Runner
The Movie
The Kite Runner is a motion picture set in the Pre-Taliban Afghanistani pandemonium based on Khaled Hussaini's book of the same name. It is emotionally extremely evocative, and the very essence of the film lies in the way even the harshest of scenes are displayed with the subtle touch of innocence. The story is set upon a backdrop of tempestous events, from the demise of the monarchy in Afghanistan through the soviet invasion , the mass departure of "Afghan refugees"Pakistan and the United States, and the treacherous Taliban regime. It elucidates the tale of Amir, a rich boy from Kabul, who is anguished by the guilt of dispensing his childhood friend Hassan, a hazara boy, who, incidentally is the illegitimate son of his Amir's father.
Through out the movie, one's (the knower) perception of Amir as the protagonist is under constant modifications. As a child, Amir, though best friends with Hassan, abandons him when he needs Amir's help the most. The viewer perceives Amir as a rich kid, who only takes undue advantage of Hassan. The intense physical language demonstrated in the film especially through the rape scene has a stinging effect on the viewer's perception of both Amir and Hassan. But as time progresses, and Amir grows up to become a writer in the United States Of America, his character is regenerated to give way to a mature and reasonable young man. "There is a time to be good again": Amir goes back to afghanistan to rescue Hassan;s life. The viewer, thus in the end, leaves the theater with a positive perception of Amir. But can one's wrong deeds be truly undone by right ones. This is the question which each knower can answer through only his or her own perception and reasons.
The Taliban rule in Afghanistan in the film is also perceived as an inhuman and intolerant regime. They reasoned everything with their own perceptions of the Quran and the Islamic religion. The graphic scenes of punishments by the rulers through public stoning ceremonies evoke feelings of extreme anger and sympathy. Since the film is based on actual historical events, one could always argue that the film has a pro-American and anti-Taliban perception towards the history of Afghanistan. But one cannot neglect the cruel atrocities of the Taliban leaders on the locals. The mere thought of molesting children from an orphanage incenses the emotions of the viewer. One can only argue about the ethical nature of the orphanage manager to sacrifice one child to save another ten. After all, we only need to imagine the plight of the sacrificed child to understand the complexities behind such a decision.
The kite Runner is one of the most emotionally evocative movies. But even in a movie with such dramatic events, the climactic scene of the flying kites adds a whole new dimension to the subtlety of the film. Amir runs the kite for Hassan's child, just like Hassan used to when they were young. Amir's dialogue;"For you, a hundred times over", is one of the most soothing yet evocative instances in the film. Even after witnessing all the atrocities, the hardships, the unfortunate incidents, especially with Hassan, the viewer leaves the theater with a gratified feeling.