Flowers for Algernon (1965) [pdf]

Post by angrais » Sun, Jun 26, 2022, 12:38 AM UTC

bdowling wrote: post #123

sandworm101 wrote: post #120

I always hated this story. For me, the underlying theme is one of class and social structure. The illiterate man is lifted above his situation by science. He is then hammered back down. This is a story about how science cannot change the underlying "natural" state of a person. It is a lesson for scientists about not messing with god-given realities. I also don't like the linking of one's job to one's intelligence. Th…

> The opposite to Flowers for Algernon is Captain America. They're not opposites, they're orthogonal. Flowers for Algernon is a science fiction story. Science fiction stories are usually (always?) about how the human experience is affected by some hypothetical new technology. The new technology often has a fatal flaw or unexpected consequences. The stories are often tragic. Captain America, on the other hand, is not…

Post by sandworm101 » Sun, Jun 26, 2022, 12:45 AM UTC

cowtools wrote: post #125

sandworm101 wrote: post #120

I always hated this story. For me, the underlying theme is one of class and social structure. The illiterate man is lifted above his situation by science. He is then hammered back down. This is a story about how science cannot change the underlying "natural" state of a person. It is a lesson for scientists about not messing with god-given realities. I also don't like the linking of one's job to one's intelligence. Th…

I don't think there is a single point in this comment that I agree with. >This is a story about how science cannot change the underlying "natural" state of a person. I don't think that's necessarily true. In the setting of the story, current the state of the art prohibits this. But It doesn't really comment on whether that's a fundamental limitation. The purpose of having the protagonist descend back into retardation…

Post by stickfigure » Sun, Jun 26, 2022, 1:04 AM UTC

sandworm101 wrote: post #133

cowtools wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think there is a single point in this comment that I agree with. >This is a story about how science cannot change the underlying "natural" state of a person. I don't think that's necessarily true. In the setting of the story, current the state of the art prohibits this. But It doesn't really comment on whether that's a fundamental limitation. The purpose of having the protagonist descend back into retardation…

I have known lawyers who struggle with aspergers. I was at law school with a man who had tourettes. He had to take his exams in a separate room due to his outbursts. Ive also met professionals with obsessive compulsive disorder so bad that, in the past, they might have been locked up. Mental illness, even mental disability, does not preclude as many vocations as most people think.

Post by exit » Sun, Jun 26, 2022, 1:41 AM UTC

exysle wrote: post #97

quanto wrote: post #12

She said dont be scared Charlie you done so much with so little I think you deserv it most of all. Charlie was a man with a good heart, motivation, and self-awareness, and yet the world was not so kind to him. The story reminds me of something I read somewhere: be kind to less intelligent people -- the world is already not so kind to them.

I like to think that the gods mankind and corporations create, artilects, will see mentally disabled and geniuses the same way - it will only care whether or not they are good people, since their intelligence is incomparable to the artilect.

Post by dingosity » Sun, Jun 26, 2022, 1:52 AM UTC