Brian Greene, Edward Abbey and Fanny Howe

Brian Greene brings the unsettling idea in "Our Universe May Be a Giant Hologram," that our world as we know it may not actual be the real world, but instead a reflection of a distant universe that is parallel to us, and what is scary about this idea is that this other universe is said to be "fully linked" to our world. If Greene's assessment is true, and our reality is not really reality at all, for me, I feel as though that would change nothing about my persona. Although this concept exists and may be real, what can we do to change or become aware of such a universe? If this parallel universe does exist should we go out and search for it? Should we ditch our morals since it wouldn't matter considering we're not the original reality? I think its an interesting concept but our lives wouldn't change.
Edward Abbey's "The Serpents of Paradise" displays bewilderment with man and animal. We readers can observe from the text that the protagonist is no stranger to nature and the environment because he is a park ranger, but his interactions with the animals also gives away his relationship to the environment as being familiar. As for the creatures in the environment, the character seems to be fine with the idea of sharing his home with mice but at first is scared/confused about the rattle snake's presence so close to himself, and even plans to kill it. But we can see a change in his attitude towards snakes when he encounters a gopher snake. He feels both connected and isolated from the animals. Connected in a way that he shares house with the mice and the gopher snake at a point, isolated because when his curiosity arises to watch the two gopher snakes he retreats in order to give them their own space and says "For godsake let them go in peace." I think there's plenty of instances I have experienced that relate to Abbey's story because I have always been fascinated with animals and I know quite a lot about them but I could only observe them to a certain extent because they would leave my range of sight. Observing nature is bewildering in a way because animals are different from humans but in a way the same. Animals vary in fur, color, legs, snouts and many others that differentiate species but we're the same in the way we survive, hunt, compete, etc. I think Abbey is comfortable with the unknown because he does not try to understand the animals fully. He lets the rattle snake leave his sight and mind, as he does with the two gopher snakes he lets go in peace to do whatever they please without his supervision. In the reading of Brian Greene I think bewilderment lies in the total concept that our reality is such a parallel of a true reality, we are lost and without answers as to who are we, and what really is this world we are living in? As for Abbey's text bewilderment lies in the acts of nature, the relationships we can grow or the relationships that dwindle, the fact that emotionally we as humans can connect to animals and nature is amazing and bewildering! I think the two texts are common in a way that both question reality, the "Our Universe May Be a Giant Hologram" suggests another universe, while "The Serpents of Paradise" show a different world other than the one we're used to of technology and innovations but a world of nature events in the environment among animals we fail to notice. These readings make me want to take notice and make myself aware of the world, all the elements that make up our world and what is happening all around us everyday that we fail to notice because maybe; such stories are in their own way their own universes.                 

In "Nature and the Environment" by Edward Abbey his relationship with the creatures are connected. He describes how he sees the snakes staring back at him and describes what they look like. Each season a different type of snake appears in his trailer. He is mostly interested in the gopher snake, especially there dance. He feels connected to them because he is interested in what they do and how they acted. "The gopher snake and I get along nicely." (Abbey, pg. 499.) None of Edward Abbey's experiment ever has happened to me only in my dreams. I think it would be beneficial to experience his world because people would be able to connect with the environment and know what to do with it and how to take care of it. Abbey is comfortable with the unknown because when he sees the snakes and the gopher snakes dancing he focusses on them and triers figuring out why they do that.

In "Our Universe May Be A Giant Hologram", by Brian Greene he argues that the universe you only have yourself and its parallel. He says like a black hole it has a a bunch of surface area just  like the parallel world. Knowing that our perception of things isn't reality dose not change anything about how we live our lives.

All stories have different views of the the world and in "Bewilderment" and "Nature and the Environment" they both talk about the world in nature, and " bewilderment" and "Our Universe May Be A Giant Hologram" both talk about oneself.

The Unknown and Bewilderment

In Brian Greene's essay "Our Universe Might Be a Giant Hologram", he seems to focus on his belief in "Holographic Parallel Universes". He believes that there is "some distant surface that, much as a puppeteer pulls strings, are fully linked to the processes taking place in my fingers, arms, and brain" as he types his essay on the computer. I personally wouldn't put much thought into my perception of reality changing because even if there was some alternate universe, I would still be here in our universe. Sure its strange that some person (or thing) is doing something light years away, that is related to what I'm doing. I won't deny that, BUT the fact of the matter is I'm over here, and they're somewhere else. If there was a chance that we'd get to meet each other, I might care a little more and even feel some sort of weird connection to my "other self", but until then...

On the topic of connection, I do believe Edward Abbey, author of "Serpents of Paradise", has a connection to the animals living in the woods with him. He says "I'm a humanist. I'd rather kill a man than a snake." According to Dicionary.com, a humanist is a person having a strong interest in or concern for human welfare, values, and dignity, so his willingness to take a mans life over an animal shows that he has a higher regard for them. When I was a vegetarian, I too was more concerned with the feelings of animals sometimes more than other people. It's sad really, but I felt bad for them and I, like Abbey, believed (and still believe) it is possible that "many of the nonhuman undomesticated animals experience emotions unknown to us." I think because of his deep connection with nature and uncivilization, Abbey tries to familiarize himself with their unknown thoughts or emotions. As previously mentioned, he feels connected to the wild and its inhabitants so maybe he desires to learn as much as he can about them in order to deepen that connection.

The common ground in both of these stories seems to be the idea of the unknown, and that inability to uncover it leads the authors to a state of bewilderment. They allow themselves to become confused/bewildered by their interests, and they won't find clarity until the unknown is revealed.

       In "Nature and the Environment" by Edward Abbey shows a relationship between an individual with nature/environment. It is about him living in a trailer in the middle of no where, its just him and the living animals around him at least that's what I believe. His relationship is very positive with the animals that surround him such as mice, rattlesnake, and also the two gopher snakes. Although he wants to get rid of the mice the rattlesnake he doesn't kill them since he is a humanist saying that, "I'd rather kill a man than a snake." He wants to get rid of the mice later because they attract rattlesnakes; but then he finds a gopher snake which are rivals with the rattlesnakes and the gopher snake can get rid of both so he keeps in sort of like a "pet." After the gopher disappears, he later comes back with a mate and the man sees them doing somewhat of a ritual dance. When the gopher snakes notice he is approaching them so they leave and he notices that he will never see them again, and let's them go in peace. This is very good in my opinion that he is very open minded, and actually somewhat understands nature, very beneficial indeed.
       In "our universe may be a giant hologram" by Brian Greene is over an idea that the world and what happens to us, is similar to what happens in another universe far from us. What happens to us is sort of a shadow that is happening in another universe, like many times before I have read in articles that we as humans don't have any control over our life's; so I think this is what Greene is also trying to
       Even though they are different to each other, both of the readings have some sort of bewilderment. In "Nature and the Environment" bewilderment is shown in how we humans don't know what animals are thinking/feeling because were not one of them. Just like they can't understand us, nor could we understand them. And this confuses us which is similar to bewilderment. In "our universe may be a giant hologram" bewilderment is being showed in this article is how we are lost in our own universe, we have to understand what is occurring in the other universe which like I said causes us to be lost.

"Our Universe May be a Giant Hologram" and "Nature and the Environment"

Physicist Brian Greene in his essay “Our Universe May be a Giant Hologram” makes the argument that the world and the realities that are happening everyday around us are solely a depiction of another universe that is far off in the distance. He argues that what happens here in this universe is simply a shadow of the events taking place in another universe. While reading this essay I was initially confused at first but then I realized that if this is true then reality is actually false. I feel that my sense of reality is not really mine but someone else’s who is in another universe; it’s kind of like you are just imitating something that is being imitated in some different universe. Well if this is the case, then should we be responsible for our actions? Because if we are just following what is being done somewhere else we really don’t have any control over our life.

On the other hand Edward Abbey in his essay “Nature and the Environment” portrays his relationship with nature and his surrounding environment. I believe that Abbey has a very positive relationship with his environment and the creatures within it. He practically lives in a desert in the middle of nowhere where he is immune to being face to face with scary creatures such as snakes every day. Although he is at risk of being bitten he decides not to kill the rattlesnake beneath the doorstep because he is humanist and would “rather kill a man than a snake.”  He further decides to let mice roam in his trailer because they “don’t disturb [him] and are welcome to [his] crumbs and leavings. Although Abbey feels connected to the environment and its creatures at the same time he has a sort of isolation from them. This is depicted when he gets attached to the gopher snake and lets the snake “wrap himself around [his] waist and rest on [his] belt.” But when the gopher snake comes back to the trailer after disappearing with a mate he finds them engaged in a “ritual dance” or a “pas de deux.” His curiosity leads him to get closer and “see the whole thing” but is discovered by the snakes that stop dancing and go to him to discover him. After the snakes are done with their discovery, they “veer and race away” from him. Abbey attempts to chase them but realizes that he should “let them go in peace.” I feel that it is beneficial to experience the world like Abbey because you are more open to more interpretations and for someone like me who does not like bugs and other creatures it is a way to discover something new and possibly better. Abbey is comfortable with the unknown because if he wanted to know everything to the root he would have followed the snakes to know where they were going and what they were doing but he chose to let go. This in return I feel lets the elements of “sympathy, mutual aid, symbiosis, and continuity” exist.
               Both of these essays have some sort of bewilderment factor that exists within them. In “Our Universe May be a Giant Hologram” bewilderment is shown in the fact that we are lost in our own universe because our perception of things is not the reality but just a mirroring image of the instances taking place in another universe. To make sense of the occurrences around us we have to make sense of the other universe. Contrasting this in “Nature and the Environment” bewilderment is present in the idea that the emotions that are felt by animals are different or unknown to humans because of the fact that we are not one of them. This is the same for animals. As humans we are not able to understand what an animal is saying or why they do something and this is confusing to us because we like to have a set stone answer for everything. These ideas affect me personally because I don’t like open-endedness; I like to have a certain answer or a correct answer for things. It really messes with my mind that confusion is necessary to understand concepts.

Bewilderment

Fanny Howe, in his essay Bewilderment, gives examples of how he and others have observed and applied bewilderment in their stories, poems and life. Howe, as the essay goes along, attempts to better define bewilderment by providing poems and stories that create the felling of bewilderment that show how they have successfully created this feeling and confusion. Although he gives great examples of bewilderment he does not give a straight definition of what bewilderment is but creates an understanding within one’s self. By crafting an environment of bewilderment within the essay, one is left confused with the feeling of bewilderment. Because one is able to experience the feeling of bewilderment as it is being explained in a bewildering way, one is better able to comprehend and associate the feeling with the text. Given all the information, stories and poems within the essay, one is left juggling information in a puzzling balancing act, attempting to understand it all at once. This struggle to understand and just not knowing what to do, one becomes engulfed and dazed by the overload and begins creating an understanding of the composition of this feeling. Understanding this feeling of healthy confusion, as the author describes, gives people the ability to know how to deal with all-of-a-sudden type situations. Without these types of feelings and situations people would be certain of everything and never be left wondering and pondering new and greater ideas. In that case we’d be stuck on a plateau of innovation and be left bored and lifeless. Bewilderment therefor not only is defined but is what causes life to be confusing but better because it allows the creation of new thought because of the need to know and understand what other thoughts mean. Certainty is what people are attempting to achieve with the constantly revolutionizing of innovation and something they will never achieve because it is continuously changing. This is not a bad thing, this is actually a great thing because, as human beings, this is what has allowed us to survive and reinvent the world around us.

Bewilderment

 Fanny Howe's Bewilderment, requires the reader to really read and  thoroughly interpret each piece of her writing. The article also required plenty of complex thinking and understandings. Fanny Howe, a poet novelist and writer of many short stories, describes how such small things can have multiple complex meanings and interpretations. In particular, bewilderment.  Bewilderment is defined as being completely confused or perplexed. She uses the story of King Midas to further explain her argument. When describing the "Midas Touch" story, Howe explains that the story isn't just about greed but, "it was about looking too hard and too possessively at living things."(4.) Using this example and many others she explains how bewilderment has multiple purposes in writing. She says that bewilderment also challenges the theory of dualism. Dualism, according to Dictionary.com, is the state of being dual or consisting of two parts, division into two. Howe argues that bewilderment separates us from the idea there is just black and white, or this and that, or just two sides to the story. She also makes the point that, "The mystery of thought can only be solved by thought itself- which is what?" (5.) We don't really know what thought is because we can't really break thought down without relaying back to a previously broken down thought. Just like a spiral. It is always continuous and never ending. A spiral knows no direction.This means that all things on this earth can be broken down into smaller things or broadened into more complex ideas, but this process will never end and continue to be broken down and built back up again. It all just depends on the perspective of a person. In conclusion, what Howe is really trying to portray, is the bewilderment or just being confused is the root of writing. Being forced to question, answer the question and question again an idea, allows us to come to somewhat of a conclusion to that idea. Although we will never really find the true answer when writing or have the exact same perspective as someone else, being bewildered when writing can help us push our writing into a more creative and original direction.