Philosophical Models: The Great Filter Theory

There is nothing more revolting in the history of humanity, than the social atrocities committed towards one another. Despite this, even in the modern day these social issues continue tainting our lives and consuming our humanity one day at a time. The exile many face over race, religion, and sexuality is prominent all over the world and as a result wars have been fought and blood drawn. Nevertheless, it is imperative that the world gains social knowledge, or enlightenment, to prevent such moral atrocities from frequently occurring. Modern society, like the past has ignored strides towards enlightenment demonstrating there is still much to improve upon in the twenty-first century.

As time goes by one would think the world is evolving in a positive manner. With all the new technology and new resources, we would assume to be better people than the generation before us. Many would argue that we are better because we are always well informed by the tabloids and social media of what is happening in the world. Unfortunately, we as humans are evolving in a negative manner. Our human nature since generations before us show how cruel we are. In the book, Maus written by Art Spiegelman shows us how malicious and inhuman people can treat each other. The novel illuminates our understanding of human nature as being evil as well as deceiving individuals, who do not act to better the world as time goes on.

At some point in time we have all wondered what it means to human, and what we are supposed to do with our lives. Throughout the centuries, there have been gradual changes in what it means to be human. Through Pico della Mirandola we will how man became the measure and took the place of God, through Charles Darwin we will see how nature and science began to take the place of man, and through the art of Friedrich we can visually see all of these changes.

Holocaust survivor and writer, Elie Wiesel in his influential speech “The Perils of Indifference,” claims that indifference is the root of all evil and inhumanity---all pain and all tragedy has resulted because of indifference. He supports his claim by highlighting the reason for “World Wars,” “Civil Wars,” “Assassinations,” “Bloodbaths,” and “Tragedy---” indifference (Wiesel par. 5) . Specifically, Wiesel uses imagery to paint an image of what the innocent victims of indifference experience. The poor “children [that] perish” because of the indifference in a man’s soul; until they see the children’s “pain” and “agony” and “hear their pleas,” until “one of them dies” because of the “violence,” “disease” and “famine,” then one will notice the dangers of indifference (Wiesel par. 23) . Further, the author flashbacks to past events that have left humans without a soul. He mentions how one day he “woke up in a place of eternal infamy, Buchenwald.” Remembering the day he is captured and the day he is “free[ed]” (Wiesel par. 1) . The problem now is that “there [i]s no joy in his heart;” he becomes a victim of indifference---the metal torture (Wiesel par. 1) . Wiesel’s purpose is to inform humanity of the dangers indifference holds in order to encourage humans to continue to hope for a world without indifference---no pain, no horror. He establishes a critical tone for readers by using stylistic devices such as imagery, flashbacks and rhetorical questions in order to achieve his purpose that indifference is monstrous and dangerous. Wiesel’s message about the inhumanity of indifference and the importance of resistance is still relevant today.

Since the beginning of modern civilization, people have fantasized about a world without conflict, disease, aging, and violence. In Aldous Huxley’s dystopian novel, Brave New World, the protagonist John the Savage travels from the Savage Reservations to a completely new society in which people are being controlled by the government. Once there, he realizes that he cannot exist in this strange place because the people lack humanity and genuine happiness. In the novel, Huxley reveals that true happiness depends upon the ability to confront and experience a wide range of emotions, both adverse and favorable.

Human rights activist and Nobel Prize winning author, Elie Wiesel in his mind opening speech, “The Perils of Indifference,” brings to light the indifference had my the masses which allowed a long period of suffering on multiple occasions; which can only be described as “inhumane” and a “sin” (par. 13). He develops his message by illustrating the specific life changing events the author has gone through, such as when he was “Liberated a day earlier by American soldiers…” (par. 2) which makes him credible enough to speak confidently about the subject at hand. In addition, Wiesel also by using the line “When adults wage war, children perish.” he creates a shocking moment of realization and a heavier mood so people realize that being indifferent had great repercussions. Lastly, the author creates awareness to the gravity of not caring about major genocides happening worldwide. “[T]wo world wars, countless civil wars, [and] a senseless chain of assassinations…” (par. 5) are what he touched on and wanted to make a point of. Wiesel’s purpose is to inform government officials of their own indifference so it is prevented in the future in order to make better millenium where people aren’t heedless when relating to a crisis. He establishes a serious, somber, and enlightening tone for readers through the use of ethos, pathos, and the literary device asyndeton in order to develop his message that humans shouldn’t be indifferent towards others. Wiesel’s message about the inhumanity of

Starting from the “two World Wars” to “the tragedy of Hiroshima”, Wiesel elaborately chosen the well known historical violent events to draw attention of his audience. The amount of and scope of events he refers to are much more than sufficient to prove his point that there are many violence events happened due to indifference. These enormous amount of facts would blow up his audience’s minds, setting up the scope and seriousness of the issues of indifference. These familiar past events bridge the audience together with Wiesel to agree on the shared statement that indifference is

The progress made in the 20th century is staggering. Advancements in science, medicine and technology alone have brought incalculable benefits to human beings. Yet on the darker side, the 20th century was also the most violent time of human history. Two world wars, the massacres of Stalin, the Holocaust of Hitler, and many other such events killed over hundreds of millions of people and inflicted extreme suffering on hundreds of millions more that will make this period in time and period that will be remembered forever.

With all of the monstrosities that have occurred, one can only hope “that our future may be found in the past's fugitive moments of compassion rather than in its solid centuries of warfare” (Zinn Ch. 1). Because it is seemingly impossible to find peace in the world, many fear that the future will be marred with violence and destruction following the example that has already occurred. Nevertheless, Zinn hopes that the future will be better than the past; he hopes that they, rather than follow genocidal acts that have occurred in the past, will follow the loving and compassionate acts that

In the memoir Night, the narrator Elie Wiesel recounts a moment when, “How was it possible that men, women, and children were being burned and that the world kept silent?” (Wiesel, 4). He was angry that innocent people were dying and getting killed. He was mad because of everything they were doing to the poor people. He couldn’t believe what was happening. Two significant themes related to inhumanity discussed in the book Night by Elie Wiesel are Loss of Faith and Disbelief.

What is it that separates us from animals? Is it our intelligence? Our anatomy? Or is there something more, deep inside each of us that distinguishes humanity from brute nature? To speaker Elie Wiesel, caring for others is what makes humans exhibit humanity. On April 12, 1999, Elie Wiesel delivered his speech called “The Perils of Indifference” before President Clinton and the entirety of Congress. Wiesel’s speech focuses on the atrocities that had occurred in the past century, which he claimed were products of indifference, as he attempts to explain why humanity displays apathy to such tragedies. After growing up as a young Jewish during the Holocaust, Wiesel has seen his share of inhumanity from Schutzstaffel, or SS Soldiers. Elie Wiesel’s reasoning behind delivering such an emotionally charged speech is to make his audience aware of the apathy occurring globally. Throughout his speech to Congress, Wiesel uses the persuasive elements ethos, pathos and logos to convey to his audience that it is empathy that makes us human.

Award winning novelist, Holocaust survivor, human rights activist, Elie Wiesel in his influential speech, ‘ The Perils of Indifference,” emphasizes that indifference is a tempting yet inhumane quality that affects the success our new centuries to come. He develops this message by looking back upon the horrific memories of his Holocaust experience as well as looking back upon the countless assassinations, and wars that have created this “ dark shadow over humanity.” The memories of being “liberated” by “American Soldiers” cause him to see the pain and suffrage of many but allow him to have “gratitude” towards the “American People.” Wiesel mentions how indifference is  “seductive” and “tempting” because it is the easier to not be involved in another person’s “pain and despair.” Wiesel’s purpose is to warn readers about the corruption of indifference in order to influence change in the new centuries to come. He creates a critical tone for readers by using stylistic devices and rhetorical devices such as imagery, repetition, and pathos in order to truly develop his message that inhumanity and indifference are very similar things that affect us in the same way.

Aldous Huxley in his novel “Brave New World” believed people will come to love their oppressors, to adore the technologies that undo their capacities to think. Sadly, I believe that Huxley’s fears are coming true. We live in a society that is progressing at an alarming rate and while some would look at this progress as a step toward perfection or toward our ideal perfect society, others like myself see this progress as a flattening out of us as individuals and as a society. For me, when I think of progress I think of all the technological advances that are creating this fast paced, consumer based, information barraged society. This formula makes it difficult for us to grasp onto anything to really feel an attachment or as if we are truly a part of anything. We are so desensitized and when we do try and find a life raft to graph

As most people would agree, the 20th century contained some of the bloodiest and most gruesome events ever recorded in history. Why do words such as Hiroshima, Rwanda, The Final Solution, A Great Leap Forward, The Great Purge and so many more spark such vivid images of blood, torture and murder in our minds? And despite those horrific images, what is it that causes us humans time and time again to commit such crimes against humanity? Those are the kinds of questions Jonathan Glover, a critically acclaimed ethics philosopher, tries to answer in the book he had spent over ten years writing, Humanity: A Moral History of the 20th Century. Through Humanity Glover tries to answer those questions in a way which will give a solution as how we can

Indeed, the Saints have ever been, are, and ever will be the greatest benefactors of society, and perfect models for every class and profession, for every state and condition of life, from the simple and uncultured peasant to the master of sciences and letters, from the humble artisan to the commander of armies, from the father of a family to the ruler of peoples and nations, from simple maidens and matrons of the domestic hearth to queens and empresses.