While I still believe that I am
progressively losing interest in the story, I do feel that these last two
chapters were slightly more interesting that the story has been recently. The
narrator made some good points in the last couple chapters because he made me
think about what he was saying, rather than simply state his own opinions. He
has been making several statements that make me question my previous beliefs
and thoughts. For one, he said that Albert Einstein believed that nature
determines experimental data, while lesser scientists feel that scientific
knowledge comes from nature itself. I had never really thought about this idea
before, but I think Einstein is right; human ideas and opinions are what
determine scientific knowledge, while nature merely adds facts to support or
reject theories made by humans. Humans are the entities that decide scientific
knowledge, which may or may not be correct. As we know, scientific beliefs have
evolved over time. For example, humans used to believe that the earth was flat,
but now some find it even humorous that people used to believe that theory. The
earth itself has not changed since that previous belief, but rather humans
have. Human beliefs are what have transformed- not nature. I agree with
Einstein’s idea. I do, however, think that I have a natural inclination to side
with Einstein’s ideas. Regardless of my opinion on this matter, I think the
fact that he is renowned for being a genius may sway me to side with his ideas
on different matters. I feel that there is a natural bias to believe that an
individual who was so intelligent is correct about most scientific matters.
The narrator also explains that Phaedrus found it interesting how an individual
could have a certain hypothesis, but after the person started testing it, he or
she came up with several more logical hypotheses. I cannot help but relate this
to the narrator's thoughts while he is on his motorcycle. During his long
rides, the narrator consistently has endless trains of thoughts. One idea leads
him to think of something else, and the cycle continues until he stops driving.
I think this is similar to Phaedrus's idea regarding hypotheses, as they both
claim that one thing leads to the next. Also, I remember Zane saying that he
thinks Phaedrus is the narrator in a past life, and the recent reading has led
me to further believe his supposition. The narrator seems to know a lot about
Phaedrus- things that most people would not know about others- so I am starting
to see why Zane has this theory.
I find what Priya wrote about how the hypothesis issue connects to the narrator to be incredibly interesting. I had not thought about how the narrator’s travel in ideas throughout his physical travels related to the Phaedrus’ theory on hypotheses however what Priya said makes complete sense. The narrator does in come up with concept to think about through travels and then, in thinking about that concept he does move on to other concepts. When it comes to scientific thought, or really any thought at all, one thing will always lead to many others which connects back to what I discussed in my blog post this week about how the more we know the more we realize we don’t know.
ReplyDeleteI must also mention that I too am beginning to believe Zane in his idea that Phaedrus is the narrator in a past life. Chapter 10 reveals a lot about Phaedrus’ life, disproving my original thought that he was some sort of metaphor and not an actual person. Once that was disproved I was inclined to believe that Phaedrus is the narrator because of the times that the narrator mentioned Phaedrus’ clear memory of his time traveling, as though he has the memories readily available to him because they are his own. I am excited to see if this theory turns out to be true after further reading of the novel however I am also worried by the amount we still have left to read and the lack of a solid plot line.