Aglaura:The Eye Of The Beholder

The school year is about to end and reading Aglaura from Cities and Names 1 was quite an experience . It took me back at beginning of the year.The Idea of Utopias and a perfect world.

In Aglaura what is  weird is normal and what is normal is weird. Aglaura is basically a Utopia. Were everything is perfect and everything is normal. This is why it is so hard to explain.  In Aglaura as Marco Polo himself says it “There is little I can tell you about Aglaura”. The reason why is because Aglaura is full of very different things. 

“So if I wished to describe Aglaura to you, sticking to what I personally saw and experienced, I should have to tell you that it is a colourless city, without character, planted there at random. But this would not be true, either: at certain hours, in certain places along the street, you see opening before you the hint of something unmistakable, rare,perhaps magnificent; you would like to say what it is, but every thing previously said of Aglaura imprisons your words and obliges you to repeat rather than say.”This Is Marco Polo trying to describe Aglaura. The reason why, the description of  Aglaura  is so open to many interpretations of what Aglaura might be like, Is because,what a perfect world or normal world might be like to some, will of course be different to what it will be like to others.Marco Polo ends up his description by saying “in the lack of words to fix it, has been lost.” This means that since there is no exact way to describe a perfect world the definition of a perfect world has been lost.

Aglaura reminded me of all we had done in class designing our own Utopias our flags, the discussions . But what it most reminded me of was watching The Twilight Zone episode called The Eye of the Beholder.  Which showed the same idea as  Aglaura were weird is normal and normal is weird. 

When we Mix,When we Mix

As I read about Zobeide in Cities and Desire 5, I couldn't stop comparing it to Euphemia from Trading cities 1. Both of these cities had something in common, something every city has.Acculturation. Both of these cities reflect perfectly what happens when people from different cultures interact with each other. How they are bound to share certain characteristics and differ in  others. Ultimately if they continue to live together they will most probably create a new culture. A culture which contains both good things and bad things.

The mixture of cultures is very present in Zobeide. Which was Founded by  men of various nations , which had an identical dream. “They saw a woman running at night through an unknown city; she was seen from behind, with long hair, and she was naked. They dreamed of pursuing her.  As they twisted and turned, each of them lost her.  After the dream, they set out in search of that city; they never found it, but they found one another; they decided to build a city like the one in the dream.”There dreams  in this case could  represent their culture, they have some differences and some similarities. Ultimately they build a city based on all of their different dreams(cultures) since all of their dreams are somewhat similar but also quite different the city ended up being an ugly and disorganized mess.

Euphemia also shows how different cultures mix. Euphemia was a city were people  came to trade.What made Euphemia different from other trading cities was that people all around the world came to trade.Therefore it was inevitable for cultural diffusion to occur. Because these people traded everything from silk, to stories about war, to religions, to recipes. Therefore when merchants left Euphemia,they had learned so much things they didn't know before. Euphemia reminded me of the summer camp I went to as a kid. Were people from all the world or at least all the country would spend the summer together. By the time the summer was over. I had learned a lot, because I  had interacted with so many other cultures.

Zobeide and Euphemia compare because they both show the positive and the negative effects of acculturation. Zobeide shows how acculturation can create bad things.While on the other hand Euphemia shows how acculturation can create good things.

Acculturation occurs in any city. An easy place to get an example from is the City. New York is one of the biggest cities in the world.It is a place were cultures smash together everyday every place. Describing a New Yorker is a perfect example of acculturation .There favorite foods might be from a Pizza to a Kebab to Noodles.One from Italy the other from Arabia and the other one from Asia. If some one enters a cab in New York he can get from a Egyptian driver to a Cuban driver to an Italian driver to a Chinese driver. In New York you can find some good things and some bad things all as a product of acculturation. 

“....in a single day and night of misfortune the island of Atlantis disappeared into the depths of the sea.”-Plato 360 B.C

“....in a single day and night of misfortune the island of Atlantis disappeared into the depths of the sea.”-Plato 360 B.C

               As I kept on reading Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities, I came across another city I really liked,“Isaura”. I particularly liked this city because it reminded me of one of my favorite childhood movies, Atlantis, The Lost Empire . Isaura is a beautiful city that rises over a subterranean lake. The people of Isaura dig vertical tunnels in order to obtain their water. They also have two very different religious beliefs.While some believe that the Gods live in the depths of the lake, others believe that they live in the buckets that transportsthe water through the vertical tunnels of the city. I think that the buckets traveling through Isaura and the last phrase of Marco Polo’s  description: “A city that moves entirely upwards”, represent the dilemma of Isaura between being a city in which, day by day,  its people decide on either  progressing (following the Gods of the Buckets which go up), or staying as they are now (following the Gods in the depths of the lake).

               Atlantis  is a city under sea. “According to Plato, Atlantis was a naval power lying "in front of the Pillars of Hercules  that conquered many parts of  western Europe andAfrica 9,000 years before the time of Solon, or approximately 9600 BC. After a failed attempt to invade Athens, Atlantis sank into the ocean "in a single day and night of misfortune". (Wikepedia). In my favorite childhood movie Atlantis, The Lost Empire, Milo, the main character, discovers how to get to the lost city of Atlantis. Milo gets a millionaire, called Preston Whitmore, to finance his expedition. He assembles a crew to help him get to the city of Atlantis. Finally, when they reach Atlantis, Milo’s crew betrays him. They discover the city has a precious holy crystal which they plan to steal and  take up to the surface to sell it. However, Milo refuses to let them commit such an atrocity. With the help of the princess of Atlantis, Kida, Milo stops the bandits from stealing the crystal of Atlantis. In the end Milo stays living in Atlantis while the rest of his crew goes to the surface.

               Atlantis compares to Isaura in many ways. First, they are both on the water. Second, their people live isolated and under very special conditions. Last, but not least, Atlantis, Like Isaura, has only two options; staying as they are now, at the bottom of the ocean living isolated, or progressing and making contact with the surface.

So It Starts....

I wonder how much time it took Italo Calvino to write this book. How could he come up with so many cities! So it starts the wonderful journey which Marco Polo invites us on. From the beginning of the book, simply by looking at the table of contents, I knew this was going to be a tough book to read and understand. After I read the first pages and the first descriptions I asked myself “Is the whole book going to actually be like this ? City after city description after description ?” So I skimmed through the pages and noticed it was. I also noticed that Calvino’s description of  each city is filled with symbolism .

  I really liked the description of Isidora from the very first sentence “When a man rides a long time through wild regions he feels the desire for a city.” This quote reminded me of  my family trip, last December to “Golfo De Morrosquillo”. It was an eight hour car ride. We rode through the beautiful mountains, until we reached a tiny village. Of course these villages didn't even compare to Isidora. However, it relates because  after riding a long time through the mountains. I had the desire for one of these villages. Calvino describes a Isidora as a city were “perfect telescopes and violins are made”.This made me think of Isidora as a city where old men come to remember their past and look at the future. Violins are a classical instrument that might be associated with the past. A telescope can easily be associated with looking at the future since you can see what is coming.

 However, my favorite part of Calvino’s description was “Isidora”; the city of his dreams, but with one difference. The dreamed-of city identified him as a young man; “he arrived at Isidora in his old age. In the central square there is a wall where old men sit and watch the youngsters go by; he sits in a row by the wall with them. Desires are already memories”.This description made me think of Isidora as an even more romantic and beautiful city, where everybody must feel a certain nostalgia. A city where old men come to remember their past and look at the future.

The Survival Machines.

                                   

Throughout chapter ten, I felt as if as though I was sitting in Dr.G’s Biology class.Your learn a lot, but then again you don understand a lot. I had to read paragraphs to or three times to process what Dawkins was talking about.

However, something I undisputedly learned was genes and DNA determine almost every single aspect of our lives. The other day in Biology class we were looking at genetic diseases such as Down Syndrome, Canavan disease and many others. People with these genetic diseases have numerous difficulties. As this chapter and these diseases made me realize, the difference between good and bad genes can mean the difference between a good and a bad life. I am not saying people with genetic diseases have a bad life, I am saying they have a harder life. I realize how much we owe to our genes and DNA .

I also want to talk about another thing. Dawkins defines living things as  “survival machines” through out the last chapter. These themes of survival machines, DNA and genes made me think about the movie Time. In Time each character of the movie is born and is given exactly 26 years of life. After they are 26 they die. So in the movie people work for Time. In other words time is there currency if they work all day they get 45 minutes and if they buy a coffee its worth two minutes. Each person has a personal clock that when they are born has exactly 26 years and it starts counting down when this clock reaches zero they die. People that are born poor have to work and live on a daily basis trying to figure out how not to die within the next two days “survival machines.” However people that are born rich, as their parents have about a million years in time, they don't have to worry because they can live as long as they want.

The Movie relates a lot to Chapter three of The Selfish Gene because it consists of survival machines. It relates even more, in the sense that your life time and quality, can be determined by whether you are born rich or poor. This can relate to the genes and the DNA. If you are born with good genes and DNA, you are destined to live a long and good life. On the other hand if you are born with bad genes and DNA, your life is destined to be harder and shorter.

Meet Dave

The Human structure is extremely complex. Reading chapter two made me realize exactly how complex it was. There was a certain point in chapter three were I really wasn't getting anything of what I was reading. It was really complex. However, as always Dawkins shows the complex as something simple. Dawkins used the following analogy to explain how the human being is composed by certain genes that act together each one with specific functions so that the body can function properly as a whole. “One oarsman on his own cannot win the Oxford Cambridge boat race. He needs eight colleagues. Each one is a specialist who always sits in a particular part of the boat - bow or stroke or cox etc. Rowing the boat is cooperative venture,but some men are nevertheless better than others.” After this analogy, I could finally understand what I had struggled to understand through the last three pages. I understood that the body can assemble a kind of dream team of genes to function the best he can. This again made me think of how the human is a “survival machine” as Dawkins calls it and how it will do its best he can to survive.

         Dawkins analogy reminded me of the movie Meet Dave. The movie is about some outer space aliens, which come to Earth to take over the whole water supply of planet. The aliens are all about the size of a finger, so in order for them to come to earth they assemble a human body that is their “ship.” They also assemble a dream crew to take command of the ship. Their objective is to go to Earth and try to take over the water supply of the world. Each crew member is given a specific number and a specific function just like in Dawkins analogy about the rowing boat. This is a perfect team that makes the human body function perfectly. There are several members working in the legs to make the ship move properly, several others working in the hands and fingers, and, finally, the captain of the ship is in the brain. This compares perfectly to Dawkins’ analogy.

Cultural Transmission

All through out his book I have learned so much about evolution. I have been learning about Darwin and about how the most stable and the strongest species evolved. However I had never considered thinking about evolution in any other subject apart from biology. Now that I have read chapter twelve I have discovered that absolutely  everything evolves. A great example was the experiment conducted by P.F Jenkins in New Zealand. It’s is clear how the different types of songs were born from trying to imitate that last song. It was even more to me when Dawkins gave the example “George Chaucer couldn't hold a conversation with a modern English men.” This chapter made me realize that truly as all living things all of the human inventions evolve.

I would like to start out talking about fashion. Fashion is a clear example of how human inventions evolve. Before, clothing was very different from the way it is today. Women were supposed to wear long dresses, dark dresses, and their hair had to be all tied up. Nowadays you can see plenty of women in bright orange tee shirts with white mini skirts. Another example that can be seen evidently is with the brand logos. Twenty years ago if you bought a Ralph Lauren Polo Shirt it would have a tiny bitty horse in the upper left side, which marks the difference between a normal Polo shirt and a Ralph Lauren shirt. Today that tiny bitty horse has evolved into a massive horse that now covers half of your shirt so that everybody can see that you are wearing is in deed Ralph Lauren. The same has happened with tennis rackets, purses, soccer balls, computers, chocolates, cellphones and lots of other products that used to have no logos and nowadays have giant logos so that people can differentiate them from not just any product.

Another clear case of evolution is language. Or, for this matter, specifically nicknames. I have various friends whose nicknames have evolved so much that it’s impressing. For example I have a friend whose nickname is Cheviosky. His nickname evolved from his name Sebastian, who then went to Sebas, who then went to Chevas who then went to Chevis, who then went to the now present Cheviosky. It has been the same with many other friends whose nicknames have evolved so much that we have no idea why we call them that way.

Cellphones, for example, evolve every now and then. They go from big to little to very little. It is the same with Ipods computers and other technological devices Food portions have also evolved a lot. 40 years ago McDonalds hamburgers were normally 1/4 of a pound and some had cheese some didn't. Today, hamburgers are 1/2 of a pound and come with lettuce, cheese, tomato, bacon, onions, peppers and about 5 to 6 different sauces. This is a clear example of how everyday common things evolve.

Did Darwin Really Kill God ?

  I wonder what Dawkins was thinking right before he sat down to write chapter two. I can’t imagine how many outlines, concept maps, lists and other things he did to organize his thinking. I can imagine him sitting down in his office saying to himself “OK, now I get to explain the most difficult and controversial topic ever known to man in one chapter.” Its own existence. All of us and all of the other people in the world have been kids. When we are kids there is a moment in our life in which we ask questions about everything. We walk around and asking mommy why is the sky blue? Mommy, why can horses eat grass? etc. As we continue to grow up we are given a correct and precise to all of our questions. All of them except two “Why am I here?” and “How was all this created?” For these questions we only get theories, like the one proposed to us by Dawkins in this chapter.

I always thought I understood Darwin's theory of evolution. After this chapter I realized that I was mistaken and that Darwin's theory  is extremely more complex that I thought. I really had no Idea that: “The precise thorn bush shape of a protein molecule such as Hemoglobin is stable in the sense that two chains consisting of the same sequences of amino acids will tend, like two springs to come to rest in exactly the same three dimensional pattern.”

I am Catholic. Therefore, I am expected to be in complete disagreement with both Dawkins and Darwin. However I am not. I don't believe that God created the world in seven days. I believe in Darwin's theory of evolution, or as Dawkins explains it, “the survival of the stable.” People say Darwin killed religion. I believe Darwin enhanced religion.The process that Dawkins explains in chapter two is by far the most complex that I have ever heard of. Now I ask myself how could anybody believe that such a complex process could occur out of pure luck? I agree with Dawkins in all of his process and I believe that as he himself said it, he is not to far away from the truth. However I can’t agree with him when he says things like “At some point a particularly remarkable molecule was formed by accident. We call it the replicator. It may not necessarily have been the biggest or the most complex molecule around, but it had the extraordinary property of creating copies of itself.” Dawkins himself says his book isn't intended to question religion. But I do question Dawkins, do you really believe that the miracle of such a molecule like the replicator being formed is an accident? That the replicator,  having extraordinary property of creating copies of itself, was simply a coincidence? I simply cant believe that.

My Pursuit Of Happines

As I finished Candide Voltaire's critic was clear.He talked about how in life we weren't suppose to stop and think about things like: why is their evil in the world? We should simply continue to work no matter what because it wasn't our business it was Gods business. We humans were simply brought to this earth to work , thinking about other things would be a waste of time.Voltaire is criticizing how the church wants people to think about life as something temporary that dosent last.He criticizes how the church asked the people not to complain or worry about the bad things that happen to them, but to simply trust God and his judgment and accept that it is all for the best.

I have always thought that one of the side topics or critics of Candide is the pursuit of happiness.All through out the book most of the characters are searching for happiness.The characters as we all know only face catastrophes and disgraces one after an other.How ever this dosent stop them from continuing to pursuit happines. 

As I finished the book I started to think about my beliefs(I am a very catholic person).I noticed that every time something bad happens to me there is nothing that helps me feel better than knowing that God is looking after me and that this was all for the best.Despite me reading this book I still believe this is true.My aunt once told me this story about a girl who never believed in God.One day she had a very important business meeting since she felt nervous she went to mass before going to the meeting.As she was coming out of the church she was in a car crash.Her car was trashed and she never even got to the meeting because she had to stay there and solve things with the other person involved in the  crash.after a whole afternoon of figting with the other driver and seeing her beloved car being trashed she finally arrived home.She was exhausted and went to sleep.That night in her dreams God appeared and spoke to her and said “My beloved dont be mad this morning as you were leaving for the meeting there was a big Land slide in the road that you were going to take since you were hit by that car you weren't able to take that road however if you had you would have died.”The girl woke up sacred and turned on her radio to here in the morning news how there had been a huge land slide in the road that she took every morning to work.

What ever Voltaire might have thought I truly believe than everything in this world happens for the best.I also believe that no matter how hard life hits us or how many tragedies we have to face nobody or anything has the power to take away our right to pursuit happiness.

Oh My Love My Beautiful Darling

To be sincere I haven't really found Voltaire's exact critic in respect to lady Cunegonde.How ever what I would like to write about is the theme that lady Cunegonde inserts into the story.The ever lasting love in between the brave man and the innocent women.The long nights staring at the stars with out wanting to sleep but only to think of that beautiful mistress that awaits for them.The difficult moments when the only thing that keeps them going is the thought that one day they may hear her voice again.This is a recurring theme in the text as Candide himself spends most of the book thinking on when and were he will once again meet his so cherished love.

I have seen this theme in many other books ,movies, poems and songs.The reason why is because we humans are fascinated by this theme.In every culture there is always a way in which love is expressed.Love as first sight, eternal love etc these are topics that all go down to this central theme.

I would like to compare Candides love for lady Cunegonde with Don Quijotes love for Dulcinea they are both pretty similar.They both qualify for the standards that I was previously describing.Both Candide and Quijote spend the whole book thinking about there everlasting love.How ever in both books we don't get to learn much about the mistresses. The characters describe them every chapter or so, how ever all they talk about is how beautiful and innocent they are, and how they cant wait to finally meet with them. 

Something that I found pretty funny was the fact that both lady Cunegonde and Dulciena turn out to be ugly.Its funny because throughout the whole book (both books) I had this mental image of Lady Cunegonde  and of Dulciena.I thought they were the most beautiful princess in the world.Don Quijotes and Candides everlasting description are all turned down by the narrator saying “but what is sadder still is that she has lost her beauty and has become terribly ugly”pg 129 .That is all it takes for me to erase the perfect image that I had for both mistresses that image that was so carefully woven into my mind  by Candide and Quijote.

El Dorado The Voltarian Utopia

As I was reading through chapter eighteen of Candide I began to reflect on “El Dorado”.The first thing that came to my mind was El Dorado international airport or otherwise known as the ugliest airport in the world. Man I just cant stand that rusty motel like sign that all of our tourist see when they arrive to the country.

Then I was reminded of the Movie “The Road To El Dorado” Its a short cartoon movie about two guys named Tulio and Miguel who want to find the lost city. Eventually they do find the City. What I have found interesting is that both the movie and Voltaire portray El Dorado as a utopia. In the movie the two main characters are thought to be Gods therefore treated as if as thought they were. At the end of the movie Hernan Cortes the famous “conquistador” tries to invade the city but fails. Tulio and Miguel, who wanted to extract all of the gold from El dorado and take it back to spain, end up not doing so.This is interesting because Miguel and Tulio thought el Dorado was so perfect that they decided to leave it the way it was rather than taking all the gold away form the city.This compares to Candide  because both in the movie and in the book they talk about El Dorado as a utopia.

A I kept on analyzing Voltaire's el Dorado and the Movie,I became certain that they were both Utopias. Then I asked myself, why is Voltaire making fun of south America? Why would  a french man criticize South America? Then it became evident to me that Voltaire wasn't making fun of South America but of this idea of a perfect world. All throughout the book, characters have to suffer and suffer and they are told that its all for the best. In el Dorado people live up to a hundred years; they have no worries and they live a calm and great life. El Dorado was only a legend, it didn't actually exist and that is what Voltaire is trying to say; that there is no such thing as a Utopia it is simply a vague and vague legend that a perfect world exists just like el dorado.

There Is No Need For Irony In This One

Voltaire was very recognized for being a man who  protected and imposed human rights. For this reason, it was no surprise to see him criticize slavery in chapter XIX. Voltaire describes the miserable conditions in which Candide finds a salve as he is entering Suriname. Voltaire, of course, criticizes how cruelly these slaves were treated. 

The slave that Candide found missed a leg and therefore could not run away and did not have a hand for slipping up. These were clear examples of how Voltaire was disgusted by slavery. Voltaire also criticizes how pathetic the excuses were for slavery. Slave owners were religious so they were suppose to believe that all men are equal in Gods eyes. However, they didn't treat the blacks as is as though they were equal. 

What was even more ridiculous was that they taught their slaves their religion. Every day they talked to their slaves about how only god took and gave life,how they should respect each other and love each other and most ridiculously about how all men were equal. However this didn't stop the slave owners from taking away a slave’s hand or leg. Voltaire didn't need to make this one neither Ironic nor pathetic as it already was in reality.

Its funny that I read exactly this chapter today because in US History we were talking about slavery. I was reminded of the Movie Amistad; The movie is about how some african salves are being taken to Cuba to be sold. However the slaves manage to take over the ship. The salves sail all the way to America where there is this big dilemma on what they should do with the salves. There are many theories proposed by many people that claim them theirs. Some other people think the salves should be granted freedom.The movie compares to Candide in the sense that they both portray the slave situation as pathetic. In the movie it is pathetic that the decision that the court takes, which is supposed to be based on the US constitution which says “all men are equal”, is to enslave the africans.

Overall I believe that Blacks have suffered a lot and that its definitely pathetic the excuses that they made up to treat people this poorly.

Every Detail Counts

“Candide trembled like a philosopher ,and hid himself as best he could during this heroic butchery”pg 25.It just keeps on going.Paragraph after paragraph, Voltaire continues to delight us with his incredible hyperbolas.With his Ironic phrases and with his hidden messages.Its been a delight to read these first four chapters of Candide.Every time I finish a sentence I have to stop for a couple of seconds and think about what Voltaire is trying to tell me .Once I figure it out , it brings a smile to my face as I discover the Irony of each sentence.Reading this book has  been very interesting. I often find myself close reading paragraphs again and again.As I try  to find Voltaire's hidden message.This is certainly not a literary book in which the author writes what he wants to say.In this book, I must pay attention to every detail, every paragraph ,every sentence ,every word.

         Candide reminds me so much of the TV series Prison Break.In which every little detail has an important meaning that will be explained in flash backs or in the future.For example at the beginning of the series Michael ,the main character, bumps in to his Dad.He only realizes at the end of season one ,that that guy that he bumped into was his Dad.It surprises you because something as insignificant as bumping in to somebody, turns out to be the most important thing in the whole season.So after this, every time I watch prison break, I pay attention to every little detail.Its the same with this book.Its like watching a suspense movie in which you  don't know what the character is going to do.Its just that in Candide its not about what the main character is going to do its how the narrator is going to describe Candide doing it.I have found it pretty interesting and unique to read this book and I hope it keeps on going this way.

The Honorable and Loyal six foot Heroes

Since Voltaire has gone ahead an utilized so much Irony in Candide .I have gone ahead and created an Ironic title.The Title of course has to do with the description Voltaires “Heroes” in the book.

The Heroes as we all know are the soldiers of the  “Bulgar army”.Voltaire is of course criticizing them  through Ironic phrases such as “Girls who had satisfied the appetites of several Heroes lay disemboweled in their last agonies”pg 26.Voltaire seems to be disgusted by the sobriquet that is given to soldiers as Heros.All through chapter four, Voltaire describes the atrocities committed by these Heros.It is evident that Voltaire feels that soldiers are abusive and and are given to much merit for there corrupt labor.

What I have found Ironic or to be more specific interesting is that 234 years after Voltaire's death this sobriquet of “Heroes”is still given to soldiers.These “Heroes” of today aren't much more different than the ones back then and I think that Voltaire would continue to be disgusted at the modern day heroes.Every now and then their are scandals of how in Iraq American soldiers were found torturing prisoners.In Colombia The whole “Falsos Positivos” scandal  brought to light how many of the so called “Heroes” would kill innocent men to simply get more vacation time our money.It isn't rare to hear that soldiers rape and kill innocent women.I imagine what Voltaire would feel knowing that 200 years later things haven't changed.

This discussion about Soldiers has also reminded me of the Colombian Movie el Paramo.The Movie is mainly about some Colombian soldiers who loose communication with their base so they end up in a “Paramo” which turns out to be hunted.In the Moive they show a lot of the atrocities committed by soldiers in poor and isolated regions such as these.They show how they rape and kill innocent people.The characters of El Paramo fit the description of Voltaire's “Heros”.So this is what seems Ironic again that after 200 years have passed and we have supposedly advanced and evolved so much the things that disgusted a man in the 1700s still disgust a man 200 years later.

Here you can watch the trailer of El Paramo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfPBT-RWtLU

Dr.Panglos An Emblem Of Wisdom

All through out chapter 6 ,I pondered on what Voltaire was trying to do with Dr.Panglos. Clearly since  Voltaire was mentioning him so much so he must have a “target” for this philosopher.What might this be ? I reached the conclusion that Voltaire was making fun of Dr.Panglos. Well not exactly of him  but of Candide and Cunegonde for paying so much attention to this “great Philosopher”.Voltaire in my opinion found it ridiculous that Monarchs and rich individuals thought much better of themselves  because of having tutors Like Dr.Panglos. “He had not much intelligence and little understanding of Philosophy:It was quite clear that he had not been brought up by Dr.Panglos.”pg 40.This is a clear example of how Voltaire wants to show us how Monarchs think of themselves to be much more for having these “geniuses” teaching them.

  These Tutors  were thought to be “great Philosophers”how ever these tutors really turned out to be ignorant brutes, who took advantage of the Monarchs. “He wanted to through himself into the sea after the Anabaptist , but the great Philosopher,Panglos,stopped him by proving that the Lisbon harbor was made on purpose for this Anabaptist to drown there.”pg 35.Through phrases like these Voltaire wants to ridicule  these so called “Great Philosophers” , who's advice is pathetic.Voltaire is basically saying That a rich man isn't necessarily an educated and intelligent man.

Dr.Panglos how ever has reminded me of  important people in my life.He has reminded me of my math tutor Mrs Borrero.She never lets me give up on an exercise and always pushes me to do better.He has also reminded me of my soccer coach who has been a mentor to me.He is always motivating me and giving me advice not only in the game but in  life too.Last but definitely not least Dr.Panglos reminds me of my wise grandfather.When I was 4 years old I began to cry because my older cousins made fun of me.My grandfather who caught me weeping in a corner taught me a lesson I will never forget.He said he was going to take me out to do something fun.We went to a store in which he bought a cocoanut tree that was about my height.He took me back home and he made me spend all afternoon planting that tree in the back yard.By the end of the day I was sweating and complaining and about to cry.My grandfather brought me a glass of water and then made me stand up next to the tree. He said “Pedro this morning this was just a regular plant how ever because of your effort and your hard work this tree will come to be the biggest tree in the whole back yard”.Pedro this is what life is about when people make fun of you ,dont sit down and be sorry for yourself.Work hard and puts lots of effort in what you are passionate about and you will become the tallest tree in the yard.

I was very young and innocent back then but I know that I shall never forget that lesson that I was taught that day.When ever I don't like something I am not suppose to cry about it but actually do something about it.

Opinion Video

This is my so interesting opinion on applying technology to soccer expressed through an opinion video unfortunately blogger  does not allow me to post this video because of the format that its in.So I encourage you to take a look at it through this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNSbFstB74Q&feature=youtu.be