Profound Tragedy.
Brevis ipsa vita est sed malis fit longior
I thought Dan Ariely's argument about how we are not always in control of our own decisions is a pretty accurate one. In his TED talk, he argues how we are often influenced when asked a question in a way so that we believe we are answering the question based on our own preferences, but are really answering with what the inquirer of the question expects us to give. The person being asked the question often answers with whichever answer is easiest to give, be it because the person answering is not knowledgeable enough to formulate a response based on their preference, or simply because they do not know their preference on the matter. I think this is very true. I buy lots of tech-y things online and I often see marketing techniques designed to get people buy additional things that they don't need or will never end up using.
I don't really think this TED talk has that much to do with the tragic arts. The connection is that often in tragedy, the main hero arrives at the same outcome no matter what choices he makes, so in a sense, he is not the one determining his own path, but fate. While I can see how that kind of has to do with the TED talk, in that one doesn't really make his or her own decisions, I think the two scenarios are different. In tragedy, the hero is not really "tricked" into making choices, his outcome happens to be the same no matter what. Oedipus is an example of this; he lives his whole life trying to make choices that would lead him away from the prophecy, yet he ends up fulfilling it anyways. It's not like he was presented with a choice and was influenced into choosing to sleep with his mom.
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AuthorSuch sad. Much tragedy. Wow. ArchivesCategories |