Tuesday, January 8, 2008

Live Blogging: The Damned Human Race

As you live blog, please remember the following:

1. Keeping hitting the F5 key to refresh the page and view new comments.
2. Type in Microsoft Word first to make sure you have proper spelling and grammar.
3. Aim to make at least five thoughful comments.
3. Keep the discussion focused and academic. Today's topics are Social Darwinism and Mark Twain's "The Damned Human Race."

72 comments:

krump said...

Do you think Twain is a creationist or an evolutionist?

Could he be in the middle?

Anonymous said...

Maria,
I think that he is criticizing both aspects.

Laine G said...

He is an evolutionist. Absolutely no "Intelligent Being," such as the Flying Spaghetti Monster, could have possibly created such a foolish group of people.

jberry said...

well what is a creationist vs. an evolutionist...?

emilya said...

I agree with Laine. If he believes humans to be the bottom, how can he believe there is some greater being?

Tina L said...

I agree with Laine. I would also like to add that he talked about the descent of man and de-evolution.

Rachel L said...

Twain seemed like a huge evolutionist, based on the way he compared man to having, “descended” from other animals. He criticizes God for creating man in his own image, seeing as we are a horrible species.

Anonymous said...

I really don't think that Mark Twain is criticizing evolution or creationism, he really ,pretty much, insulting what makes human beings different from animals. He is insulting our perspective and how we strive to conquer what we consider "evil".

carley_benson said...

I belive Twain is a constant devils advocate, he never says what he personally belives but finds jot in pointing out the flaws in widly accepted ideas through satire

Annika_EP said...

I strongly agree with Laine. Because he critisizes the human race so much, I don't really think he would do that if he was a really religious person. He would probably find it uncomfortable talking about that, even if he was just joking. Although he is just making fun of the human race, I think that the satire is trying to point out human faults, which goes against some religions.

jberry said...

tina---

Yeah, I really thought it was interesting how he said that he felt he had to devote his superiority of man.

Tina L said...

I had one issue with the points Twain was making. The reason humans can hoard things and feel things and brood and take revenge is because we have bigger brains and can reason with them. Animals might get along, but it's because their whole life is like, "get food. Don't die."

Damian L. said...

Why did Twain call it Evolved from a higher species rather than Devolved from a higher species?

erinl said...

I agree that he is an evolutionist. He was saying how we descended from animals but we were the "bottom" of species.

jessie w said...

To answer jberry, creationist comes from The Bible and God, religion etc. And evolutionist is the Darwin theory and that we evolved from monkeys and such.

shaunam said...

I think that even though the article was funny, Twain really made a good point in that, animals are able to accept each other while humans believe what they think is always right and everyone else is wrong.

clewis said...

I just thought that it was interesting how he would show all of the bad things about humans but what about the bad things? Why do you think he did not mention that?

Annika_EP said...

What do you think was Twains satirical target? What was his motivation of writing this? What would he want the reader to take away from this?

carley_benson said...

tina-


do you belive humans have advanced more towards a greater good, so we are a boon to this earth then, or we have afavnced ....er.....wrong, so we belive we are before everything, that we no longer follow the set rules of nature

Anonymous said...

Jberry- A creationist is a person that believes in a higher power or being that created the universe and all life. While a evolutionist believes that bacteria/things evolved into the animals and human beings are today, and we still adapting and evolving to the world around us.

jberry said...

Just a question for you guys:


Do you think that Twain considers himself one of us? A part of society? He critisizes us so much and depicts us like almost a barbaric race... but isn't he also at fault?

clewis said...

Sorry I ment, why didn't he mention the good things?

Laine G said...

He is an evolutionist. Absolutely no "Intelligent Being," such as the Flying Spaghetti Monster, could have possibly created such a foolish group of people. He states that [humans are] “the only animal that has the True Religion, Several of them.” Here he is mocking the very existence of religion. I am very interested in this too. Religions, and religious stories, would be much more plausible, and less laughable, if only there were not more than one. With all of the separate groups claiming that they have discovered the true religion and true “God(s)” there is no possible way than more than one could be right, if even that many.

Alex_Manning said...

Have you guys ever heard of George Carlin?

Damian L. said...

Josh, what is the evil that we mere mortals are trying to conquer?

shaunam said...

clewis,

I think that he left it up to us to figure it out and interpret it in our own way.

erinl said...

I thought that it was interesting that Twain was comparing humans to animals, and he was looking at all the bad things that humans do.

saram said...

I agree with Shauna. I found the article extremely entertaining, but the message he is trying to tell us is entirely true. Animals have found a way to live in peace with each other, without using total destruction as a last resort.

Tina L said...

Caitlin- Do you mean good things about humans?

And I believe he didn't mention them to make his point stronger, and to show his total disgust in the human race.

carley_benson said...

like i said before, hes not choosing an opionion, no evolutionist or creationist

hes showing flaws in ither idea.

Rachel L said...

I think Twain wants us to see that humans aren’t the “dominant animal,” as much as we like to think we are because of our intelligence. Humans are opinionated, biased, and cruel to each other, whether we want to admit that or not.

erinl said...

Alex -
I have heard of him. I don't really know anything about him though, why?

Hannah S said...

I think that Twain is an creationist. He is mocking evolution throughout the piece. Especially at the start and at the beginning. He is praising it in a mocking sort of sense.

Anonymous said...

Jess,
I think Twain is a typical human being, who love seeing others fault but fails to recognize his own.

Annika_EP said...

Alex- Yes, isn't he a comedian?



And sorry about that last grammatical error: I meant Twain's!

clewis said...

Alex-
I've heard of him, but what did he do?

krump said...

Sara--Do you agree with what he is saying about morality being our "defect?" Do animals have morality?

jessie w said...

I think it's also interesting that the word "animal" can be used as a negative derogatory word. And then Twain makes animals look so amazing and glorious compared to humans who are just so terrible. His view seems a bit biased towards animals...

Tina L said...

Carley-

I do believe that humans have kind of made this world ours by building things on top of it and well, why not? Also I think that it was just the course of nature for the creatures that evolve farthest will "take over." Humans have the brain power to figure out how to build things, and create technology, so we do.

endsleye said...

Tina,
I like your point about how you said you don't agree with how he said the only reason humans take revenge is because they have bigger brains. I also don't agree with that. I think that animals can comprehend it to but they have more important things like getting food or what not.

clewis said...

Yeah what Mrs. Leclaire said just then, what about Robin Hood?

Anonymous said...

Damian- Evil is a perception of deeds a group or individual performs that we judge to extreme for the world today, so evil truly eludes us so we try to conquer the world with one idea and only that idea.

Alex_Manning said...

Erin~ George Carlin is a comedian who points out things that humans do that other species don't. Such as torture, murder, and others.

pretty interesting, and funny as well.

It's too bad that no one listens to him.

Tina L said...

jberry-

I think that Carley's comment kind of answers your question- that Twain is always the devil's advocate and criticising everything is just what he does. I also think that he did kind of consider himself apart from the rest of humans.

carley_benson said...

what do u guys think of this quote;


(not from this story)


"we are the only creature on earth that takes more then nessasry, and rejoices in the slaughter of oneanother"



or that one quote from the matrix (im a nerd at heart :b)

that one part where Mr. Smith says something like; only one other creature on this planet moves from one place once it has destroyed it to another, once destroying that by overpopulation ect is a virus

the human race is a virius on this earth.



?




feedback please

Annika_EP said...

Rachel,
I really like what you said! I agree that humans would find this artical hurtful because of their pride and intelligence.

Twain seems to draw a line between intelligence helping and hurting. Intelligence can lead us to be prude and think we are better than others, but it can also help us. Where do YOU think the line is?

saram said...

I agree with Endsley and Tina. I think that animals are definitely capable of the level of thinking we are at. They just hav more important things to do than think about revenge. I think they have a better grasp on the concept that you only have one life and that you need to live it and not sit at home worrying about the past.

clewis said...

I agree with Endsley. It doesn't matter how smart we are, it matters what we believe and our morals.

endsleye said...

I believe what Sweta says in the inner circle about fighting fire with fire and humans changing. I also don't think that humans can change their ways so in a way were accepting it. Sure one person can change their ways and everything but as a race I don't believe we can.

carley_benson said...

Twains
kinda
really
full
of
himself.

Laine G said...

Erin,
It is interesting that he compares people to animals, but in all fact, are we anything more than an animal? We are mammals too. We are creatures that inhabit the earth and eat all the same. The only thing that makes us different than what most people call animals is that humans have reasoning and logic. All that this does is make our actions inexcusable because our reason should tell us that our actions are wrong.

Rachel L said...

I agree with Endsley and Tina. Animals’ main priorities don’t leave time to gain revenge or concern themselves with a majority of things humans engage in. It should be taken into account, however, that animals lead a much harsher life than humans. We have used are intelligence to build tools like houses and whatnot to ensure our livelihood. I think that because humans don’t have to spend as much time surviving, they’ve been brooding over things because they have new-found time to think.

krump said...

Jesse--Nice point! Whenever we see humans treated as "animals", like the cage part, we think it's wrong. Maybe that's what Twain's message is, that we feel like we should dominate the world, and animals come secondary.

Damian L. said...

Josh who are we to define evil when the group or individual might just has a different definition of evil. So who’s is right? Also isn’t trying to conquer the world in it self evil?

saram said...

Carley:
I like the second quote. I definitely see how the human race can be seen as a virus. The story said illustrated how humans are the only ones who have war and destroy things just for the sake of destroying. We are slowly killng the planet and this effect is spreading like wildfire.

Hannah S said...

Twain is saying that instinct is in animals and that humans have morals to justify and help them decide their actions. However, in some cases murder is justified if it is self defense. Do you believe that humans have the instinct of animals, but can choose to deny it?

carley_benson said...

seems to me animals almost are better off, name one time they kill when not nessasry, agree w/ endsley on some points

endsleye said...

Carley,
I really like your quotes that you posted. I agree with both of them because we are the only living thing that enjoys slaughtering others. I also like the one from the matrix how human beings are a virus. I get where that is coming from.

carley_benson said...

sara;

thanx

then how are we above animals? WE ARE DESTROYING THE EARTH. the arent. they understand balance, we do not.

endsleye said...

Speaking of satire. I think that I Am Legend is satirized because the humans that have the disease turn evil and kill each other and other things. But I think it is portraying the humans today?

erinl said...

Alex - I don't think that animals are so different from us. They do things that could be "revenge". The male elks will fight to the deal for dominance like Leclaire said. They may not be as violent and humans are but they still compete for food and fight with eachother. I don't think that animals are completely innocent.

clewis said...

That's really interesting Carly. We have somewhat destroyed our Earth and brought down a lot of others. We have made our world the way it is. The animals have been on the planet the planet for millions of years and back then everything was fine until we came along. It almost brings back the question of what's the meaning of life.

Tina L said...

That is an interesting point that Ms. Leclaire brings up, about elk killing each other just to be dominant. Because of my extensive Planet Earth watching, however, I think that's still a survival instinct. ;)Being the "dominant male" seems like a stupid thing to fight to the death over for us, but I think that for the animals who do, the dominant male is the only one that gets to reproduce, and they're the boss dude, and that is just how life works for them.

erinl said...

I like was Kristen said.. That if people are ignorant that they can get away with anything.
But I was wondering - How do we know that animals don't have reasoning?

Anonymous said...

Damian- We live in a world today where "evil" lives all ovewr the world, but true evil is beyond our grasp. To be truly evil we have to do something that is an act of violence againist all of humanity, past, present and future. So really nothing is truly evil until it is an act againist EVERYBODY. Or people could lose their sense of perception and become one mindless species thta is united forever.

emilya said...

hannah-

Yes humans have the instincts of animals but can choose to resist it. We have the knowledge of right and wrong.

jessie w said...

endsleye, I completely agree with you about I Am Legend. I think it not only they turn evil against each other but also that the one doctor tried to find this cure and it turns into something horrible. Maybe it's that humans try to always fix everything because we think we're so great and yet we can't?

Damian L. said...

Carley, I remember this quote, and it’s true that the human race has done a vast amount of more harm than good, so in a way yes we are a virus.

kaytlinr said...

Sorry these took a little longer to post! I was having a little trouble logging on.

I think that it is kind of funny to think that Twain compared humans to animals that us, seem inferior to us. Normally we wouldn't see them as creatures with the upmost importance, but according to Twain, we are simiar to them.

kaytlinr said...

that last comment was supposed to say,
that to us.........

kaytlinr said...

I thought it pretty amusing how Twain went off on this huge rampage about humans, when he is onje too. My question is, do you think that Twain believes that if humans continue to live this way, we will end up at the bottom?

kaytlinr said...

Another question I have about this is, what do you think Twain's motivation was for writing this?