{"id":773,"date":"2009-11-12T12:56:29","date_gmt":"2009-11-12T18:56:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kickert.info\/blog\/?p=773"},"modified":"2009-11-12T13:03:22","modified_gmt":"2009-11-12T19:03:22","slug":"the-trap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/kickert.info\/blog\/2009\/11\/12\/the-trap\/","title":{"rendered":"The Trap"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Title<\/a>

Title Screen from "The Trap"<\/p><\/div>\n

Go ahead… carve out 3 hours from your day. \u00a0You are going to want to watch this. \u00a0The following is a three part documentary produced by Adam Curtis and originally aired on the BBC. \u00a0It follows the philosophical underpinnings that have guided the way we understand the world for the past century and how that has affected everything from foreign policy to personal health to our notion of productivity. \u00a0The whole series hinges on how we understand the concepts of freedom and liberty. \u00a0This is quite timely given the political climate of the day and the obvious disconnect between various wings of society. \u00a0I have embedded a YouTube playlist for each episode so you can watch it through. \u00a0I have also included notes on each episode… but trust me, you want to watch the whole thing.<\/p>\n

Episode 1 – Fuck You Buddy<\/strong><\/p>\n

I am sorry if the title offends you (if it makes things better… I was introduced to this documentary through a seminary class that required we watch it). \u00a0The title comes from an experiment developed by John Nash (the lead character in A\u00a0Beautiful\u00a0Mind<\/a><\/em>) which supposed that the world operated best when people were selfish. \u00a0This segment details how game theory and other\u00a0mathematical\u00a0formulas\u00a0convinced the world that the best way to view humanity was through a lens of\u00a0suspicion\u00a0where all people were obviously in it for themselves and every decision was motivated by self-interest and preservation. \u00a0This was the dominate mindset in the Cold War Era. \u00a0When we approach the whole world through a lens of distrust, it is amazing (and\u00a0unfortunate) how we view society.<\/p>\n

[Watch on YouTube<\/a>]<\/p>\n

<\/embed><\/object><\/p>\n

Episode 2 – The Lonely Robot<\/strong><\/p>\n

In this episode Curtis continues to explore our desire for society and people to be\u00a0predictable. \u00a0Perhaps it is a desire to understand, or perhaps it is a desire to control. \u00a0He looks at the development of the mental health field and our own understanding of what it means to be “normal.” \u00a0From here he explores the\u00a0consequences\u00a0of a world where everyone strives for an ideal that is, at best, arbitrary. \u00a0Curtis follows how this emphasis on standards spiraled out of control in a vain attempt to maximize productivity in all sectors… even if the measurements were pure conjecture. \u00a0These ideas (however flawed) were monumental in ushering in a new understanding of the free market.<\/p>\n

[Watch on YouTube<\/a>]<\/p>\n

<\/embed><\/object><\/p>\n

Episode 3 – We will Force you to be Free<\/strong><\/p>\n

After exploring the way we view ourselves and human nature, Curtis begins in earnest to explore our ideas of freedom. \u00a0Specifically he examines the concepts of Negative Liberty<\/em> and Positive Liberty <\/em>as made popular by Isaiah Berlin<\/a>. \u00a0Negative Liberty<\/em> is a freedom from\u00a0coercion\u00a0while Positive Liberty<\/em> is the freedom to\u00a0achieve\u00a0one’s true potential. \u00a0The prior has been deemed the “safest” because the later has historically required force and oppression to bring about. \u00a0However, \u00a0following the path of negative liberty to its logical conclusions, as governments have done in the West for the past 50 years, results in a society without meaning populated only by selfish automatons. \u00a0The answer then must be a peaceful pursuance of Positive Liberty<\/em>.<\/p>\n

[Watch on YouTube<\/a>]<\/p>\n

<\/embed><\/object><\/p>\n

Adam Curtis has always been known for producing provocative documentaries. \u00a0I am sure he overstates some items in this program and under reports others. \u00a0However, this program forces the viewer to examine the way in which they view the world and requires them to\u00a0acknowledge\u00a0how their understanding of society affects their interactions with it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Go ahead… carve out 3 hours from your day. \u00a0You are going to want to watch this. \u00a0The following is a three part documentary produced by Adam Curtis and originally aired on the BBC. \u00a0It follows the philosophical underpinnings that have guided the way we understand the world for the past century and how that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,21],"tags":[430,431,378,432,433,399,435,434,38],"class_list":["post-773","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews","category-thoughts","tag-adam-curtis","tag-bbc","tag-documentary","tag-freedom","tag-human-nature","tag-liberty","tag-the-trap","tag-worldview","tag-youtube"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/kickert.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/773","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/kickert.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/kickert.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/kickert.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/kickert.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=773"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"http:\/\/kickert.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/773\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":780,"href":"http:\/\/kickert.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/773\/revisions\/780"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/kickert.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=773"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/kickert.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=773"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/kickert.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=773"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}