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Crusaders of Truth in Cat's Cradle and Pi Essay

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Crusaders of Truth in Cat's Cradle and Pi

In our world, people are constantly searching for the truth, or answers for things that seem unexplainable. On a quest to make the uncertainties of life easier, or more reasonable, some people have invented tools such as religion, and deemed them truthful. People such as Felix Hoenikker from Kurt Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle, and Max Cohen from Darren Aronofsky's film Pi, resist such inventions and see a different definition of truth, which is science. Using scientific reasoning as a device for exploring and understanding the world, they create things that are very powerful, too effectual for the good of humankind. In their attempts to inquire into what interests them, Max and Felix both …show more content…

Blessed by a computer glitch, Max is given a 216-digit number that can be used to tell the unknowns of life. Such unknowns include the stock market and religion. With a key as powerful as this, one that can unlock the unexplainable occurrences of life, Max is now a marked man. Although wanting it for completely different reasons, both the capitalists and religious are now after him for his self-discovered resource. The money-craving capitalists want the ability to predict the stock market. The Hasidic Jews want the number so that they can use it to translate the word of God. As the only one who has this untapped resource, Max can't get any relief from people trying to obtain it. His discovery proves to be dangerous because the world isn't ready for it. The only way he can rid himself of the self-inflicted danger is to erase the number from his brain, which he does by taking a drill to his head. Max's experience truly validates Sol's statement: "That is the truth of our world, Max. It can't be easily summed up with math." Although he has the mathematical formulation for life, it is too threatening to hold on to.

Felix Hoenikker's invention of Ice-9 also proves to be dangerous for humankind. With the intent of creating a product that the marines could use to freeze the movement-hindering mud, Felix presents the world with Ice-9. Since humans aren't prepared to handle such a potentially destructive element, it brings about the end of the

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