A Summary Of Ted Chiang's 'Understand'?

As scientists continue to their research, fundamental questions about intelligence are brought to the surface.

It has been said that intelligence and/ or knowledge can be both a curse and a blessing. The book “Frankenstein” portrays this idea perfectly. Intelligence can be a wonderful gift that brings many great things, but at what cost? Would you seek all the knowledge in the world if you knew that it would bring you only pain and suffering? These two questions help qualify the validity of the statement that intelligence or knowledge can be both a curse and a blessing.

The desire for self-improvement has propelled humanity into considerable scientific advancements. But as scientific developments continue to grow, these advancements carry certain implications on humanity which need to be justified in the light of philosophy. In the science fiction novella, “Understand,” Ted Chiang challenges the audience’s philosophical views regarding extraordinary hyper-intelligence by demonstrating that heightened intelligence can be beneficial to humanity if used in a moral and ethical manner. The story follows Leon Greco, a freshly-minted mastermind, as he journeys from a vegetative state to a medical advancement after being treated with an experimental drug. In this context, Chiang uses mimesis to mimic Greco’s

Carr utilizes the program ELIZA as an example of technology numbing human’s ability to differentiate man and machine. The connection between man and ELIZA goes so far as to cause humans to “imbue ELIZA with human qualities.” What’s easy to miss is that ELIZA was designed to be a therapist, and a key necessity of therapy is a seamless connection between the patient and the therapist. Thus ELIZA’s value as a therapist is established through this example. The imbuing of human qualities allows a deeper connection between man and machine, and actually points to a strength, not a weakness. The fact that man can begin to blur the edge of himself and his creation shows that man is capable of flawlessly integrating his creation in order to better utilize the machine. If man were always conscious of the numbing effect of technology, and thus stayed hesitant to integrate fully with the machine, man would be too worried to properly use the machine. Carr loses sight of this fact as he worries that human’s “wanted” to give ELIZA human qualities. His worry is ill place, as Carr fails to acknowledge the purpose behind

As he journey’s through this, his way of thinking changes and develops from a consciousness of a cold machine, to more c

Along in with the author’s use of metaphors is the frequent use of imagery. In this reading, it is simple to envision the scenes as the different scenarios are explained and the audience can easily picture Staples in the places he is describing and also the people he comes across. Perhaps the most powerful and memorable imagery is provided in the author’s description of people’s different reactions and faces when they come into contact with him. Actions speak volumes and an immediate change of facial expression is possibly one of the

Relativism by David Wong address issues attached to moral relativism and common moral values. Wong has a unique perspective when analyzing how we view moral relativism and common moral values that an individual or a society can make a distinction. His arguments begin with him giving us types of moral relativism; Meta ethical relativism and normative relativism. He also talks about common moral values and natural laws, views that counterattack relativism.

Eric Tang’s Unsettled is an ethnographic account of Cambodian refugees in the Bronx, New York that evokes a nuanced understanding of the refugee experience. Unlike many other ethnographies, Tang’s work centers around one individual named Ra Pronh, a fifty year old woman who survived the Cambodian genocide and has lived as a refugee for most of her life. The bulk of his work draws upon two main sources: Tang’s notes that are gathered from his work as a community organizer in refugee neighborhoods and his interviews with Ra Pronh over a three year time period. Throughout his interviews with Ra, Tang often encountered a language barrier with her. There were times where Ra’s children would translate her words from Khmer to English for Tang to

Knowledge can be the key to freedom or to one’s demise, depending on how one choses to act, but no matter what, gaining knowledge is rarely an easy task. Even for students who have information readily available to them, like Victor Frankenstein at the University of Ingolstadt, are constantly under the arduous task of learning. When learning has to be done by any means necessary or in secret, like Frankenstein’s monster or Fredrick Douglass, the acquisition of knowledge becomes even more daunting and makes the learner even more ardent in their pursuit. Once a person obtains knowledge, they see their surroundings for what they are and become discontent; they realize their potential and take action to change their life, which can be seen through the eyes of Victor Frankenstein, his monster, and Fredrick Douglass.

“Don’t be in such a hurry to condemn a person because he doesn’t do what you do, or think as you think. There was a time when you didn’t know what you know today” (Malcom X). In 1965, Charlie Gordon of New York, a 37 year old with an IQ of 68, who is continuously humiliated and judged by people due to his disability, becomes a candidate for an experimental operation performed by Dr. Nemur and Dr. Strauss after his teacher, Mrs. Kinnian, recommends him. While Charlie’s intelligence increases at a rapid rate, surpassing an IQ of 200, Algernon, a mouse who is previously operated on, begins to exhibit signs of violence and mental deterioration; it is at this point where he realizes his fate. Working day and night, Charlie writes a report titled

The deeper that one understands the reality of the intellectualism that many “street smart” people have they will preserve the importance of the individuals. This is vital for the public to understand that “Real intellectuals turn any subject, however lightweight it may seem, into grist for their mill through the thoughtful questions they bring to it, whereas a dullard will find a way to drain the interest out of the richest subject.” (Page 1) In “Hidden Intellectualism” Gerald Graff explains the overwhelming importance for the “street smart” people and the pretentious intellectuals. In Hidden Intellectualism, Gerald Graff starts with the age-old contention of the distinction between "school smarts" and "street smarts." Graff clarifies that by and large, these book smarts can take different structures and stow away in what individuals call road smarts, subsequently the "concealed" intellectualism. For him, he understood that he was mentally skilled when he saw that he was utilizing reason and factious techniques while talking about games with companions. Graff depicts that through his contending and thinking, he was demonstrating his scholarly side. He additionally gives the peruser another illustration of the revelation of shrouded intellectualism by telling the tale of Michael Warner, a man who likewise understood his scholarly side through his contending aside from rather than games, he was contending the Christian Pentecostal perspectives of his guardians.

Prior to Communism in China, it was known to be a chaotic country on the brink of self-destruction. With the emergence of the party leader Mao Zedong, came a new hope, which filled its inhabitants with the belief that China would return to its former historical greatness. American and Chinese relations before 1971 were in simple terms described as “uneasy”, due to the American, Soviet Cold War. It was not until President Richard Nixon visited China and realized the high value of having China as a ally that relations between the two powers began to become positive. Unknown at the time, it is assumed in the book Chinese Lessons written by John Pomfret, that the relationships he formed with the people he met in China would change his outlook on life and Communist China forever.

In David M. Armstrong’s “The Nature of Mind”, Armstrong praises the field of science and seeks to put the concept of mind into terms that agree with science’s definition of minds. His interest is in the physico-chemical, materialist view of man. Armstrong considers science to be the authority over other disciplines because of its reliability and result in consensus over disputed questions.

Humanity revolves around the basis of one concept: knowledge. The acquisition of knowledge has driven humanity’s progress and will continue to propel man into new heights. There comes a point where the want for knowledge becomes dangerous. The novelette, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, tells the tale of a man meddling in the affairs of another, who dwells in macabre, in order to gain insight. Man lives for knowledge, but sometimes it is that knowledge that quenches man’s ability to live.

In the modern world, patients expect their doctors to aid them and to support them. In the short story, “Flowers for Algernon” by Daniel Keyes, Dr. Strauss and Dr. Nemur conducted an intelligence enhancement experiment on a man named, Charlie Gordon and changed his life. With an IQ of sixty-eight, the scientists altered him and tripled his IQ. However, this operation has not been ethical because the procedure was abstruse to Charlie, the doctors were rushing, and Dr. Nemur and Dr. Strauss were acting selfishly.