Respond to one (or more if you are behind in posting) of the following prompts:
1. Chapter 24 talks extensively about the state of books and literature in this world. What is unique about their system? What about their system resonates as familiar within our own society regarding what gets published and why?
2. What, according to Chapter 24, is Vonnegut's attitude towards psychiatry? Is it true that "somebody's just got to be maladjusted; that somebody'sgot to be uncomfortable enough to wonder where people are, where they're going, and why they're going there?" How does this relate to our society and views towards psychology? Are they similar?
3. Look at Chapter 26, page 255, 2nd paragraph starting with "Paul shook his head...". What are the moral implications of man fighting next to machine? What are the positives and negatives of this, and are we headed in this direction today? What could this mean for our society?
4. Look at Chapter 30, page 300-303, which is Van Neumann's speech to the outside world. What principles does he affirm about technology? Do you agree with these principles? Are there any of these principles that could potentially be problematic?
In response to the first question, the unique way in which books are chosen to get published or denied by publishing companies is that they must meet certain criteria. These criteria include the following: it must not contain language that is high end, it can’t be too lengthy, and lastly it cannot be against the machines. In addition to those criteria, the books that are published are ones in which are popular with the masses and that have an overall support for the system to which the society is being run. The system to which how books are decided to be either published or scrapped is decided in The Players Piano is similar to how the process occurs in our own society. This can be seen by the fact that the point of publishers publishing books is purely to turn a profit; therefore they must sell books that appeal to the interests of the masses. Because of this we end up getting a lot of books that are narrow viewed and themed simply because they are trying to tell people what they want to hear – and possibly that is not what they should be hearing. For example right after the twilight series books came out what seemed like thousands of vampire books flooded the market because the book publishers were simply trying to sell to the popular market. This creates a problem because there could be an extremely talented author that could have been writing on a completely different topic and he/she wouldn’t have been given the appropriate attention that he/she deserved because of this silly spamming of the market with what is popular interest to earn more money.
ReplyDeleteFeel better Rachel
Andrew
Chapter 24 talks extensively about the state of books and literature in this world. What is unique about their system? What about their system resonates as familiar within our own society regarding what gets published and why?
ReplyDeleteIn the novel, books that want to be published must not contain any curse words, must not be too lengthy and the books cannot be against machines. Also, there are 12 types of readers, maybe even 13 or 14 but we are unaware of the situation. Books are quite cheap as well. For a book to be published in the novel there has to be a certain amount of people to support the book. In my opinion, the way books are published now is kind of like how the music industry functions; by the subject of interest and certain types of age groups. Books are like music, we use both of them as an escape or we try to relate to what the author or artist is trying to say from our own personal experience. For example, the Harry Potter series sold millions of copies. But how? Because it takes the reader from this world in to one that is by far, above and beyond anything we can experience in our own. That’s how books get published now by trying to relate to people; reaching out. Don’t we all want the ability to wave a wand and magically have something appear in front of our eyes?
Chapter 24 describes the future of the arts in a society run completely by machines. In the novel, only the books and art that can be accepted to the system as well as the general public are made available. Therefore an artist or writer has no opportunity to create anything that is new or original because it is inefficient to produce. In our society today, art is used an escape from reality and it can even be a forum to point out the flaws in the system and take a stand on issues in politics. However, in this society, all of those liberties are taken away. Therefore an individual cannot express him or herself fully through art and is suppressed by the system. We are fortunate enough to not have this happen in our society today but in some nations, there is a strong hold on the information that is released. The information is so skewed that their worldviews are completely off, and it’s not even their fault, it is simply the nature of their environment. Not only is art an outlet for emotions for the artist but also it is a way for people to come together to appreciate it. If there were no way to express ourselves, we would definitely not be evolved creatures.
ReplyDeleteIn response to the third question, I believe that man fighting has many affects on modern society. One of the greatest prices for fighting next to machines is the advances in warfare. For example, heat seeking missiles, submarine attacks, Kamikaze pilots, and creation of the atomic bomb, were just a few of the advances that made World War II more brutal than any other war before it. Even today, some of the traces and bitterness from it can be felt. But the more important problem with machines taking over warfare is illustrated in the book: because machines are so efficient and so ruthless, they replace the brave soldiers. Not only does the entire concept of war and heroism get altered, but the emotional aspects of going to war are distorted as well. Because less lives and more machines are taking the risk of the battlefield, one of our greatest concerns should be the fact that we as a world may be more willing to fight one another if our own men can stay at home. Another issue that stems off of that is the Darwinian outcome of these future wars: it is not fair to decimate an entire country just because a superior country has the technology to do so. War already does terrible things to both sides: adding machines is making our world focus more on our differences, our statuses in power based on technology rather than trying to solve the problem peacefully.
ReplyDeleteDuring Chapter 24 they discussed how books are published based on their length instead of written quality. Today in our society we are starting to rely very much on electronical sources when reading any literature we need to. Therefore books written and published electronically will receive a larger number of people reading them. With the busy schedules of peoples lives with always several things to do constantly people more commonly only read short exceprts rather than an entire novel or article. This has really affected society as a whole.
ReplyDeleteVonnegut seems to think psychiatry solves everything. Just because someone is maladjusted does NOT mean that they need mental help or help at all for that matter. I feel we need those people that ask constant questions and are worried about others to counterbalance other populations in society. If we did not have those specific individuals we would not be reseraching and discovering new invetions and ideas because no one would care or be curious. Without worrying about those in need and just caring in general some people would be lost in the work without a sweet, caring person taking care of them. We need well rounded caring people to keep society running somewhat smoothly, otherwise the world will be even more corrupted than it is today.
ReplyDeleteChapter 24 explains the way in which books are published based on stringent criteria to keep the novels within established guidelines. Writing is kept to a certain length and particular words and subjects are avoided. This is, in a way, quite a bit like many books that have been written for the general public. In the book, they do surveys to uncover the habits of readers and use that data to create all works. In our society, our "survey" figures come in terms of profits. The drive for profits has mostly turned us away from the lengthy, wordy, and indepth works of art from the past and towards whatever the most digestible book-of-the-month happens to be. These are the books that sell the most. They are easy to read, have quick turnover (shorter books mean more demand for more books as they are finished more quickly), and tend to be more topical without requiring so much abstract thinking. It seems like anyone can write a book (or more often, pay someone to write one for them), anyone famous enough can get it published, and be considered a success based on sales and profit over sustainance.
ReplyDeleteDuring Chapter 24 they showed us how books are published based on their topic and length instead of written quality. In today’s society there is no parameters set on what you can write about, and that’s what makes it interesting. In the story you had to get your book approved first and if it didn’t pass it was just scrapped. In a way I believe our society when it comes to that matter is kind of similar. People are allowed to write whatever they want and publish it, but if it’s not interesting to the people or against the majority’s beliefs then in a way it’s kind of pushed to the side for books that are more along the lines of what they people want.
ReplyDeleteVonnegut has a negative attitude towards psychiatry because he feels the psychiatrists take away your opionin and change you to the norm of society. This is similar to the view of psychiatry we have now, many people are afaid to see one because they think they will no longer be 'themselves' but be changed to what society views as normal, and this is partially true. I think psychiatry can be very helpful, but I do think sometimes some psychiatrists go to an extreme to make everyone fit into a cut and dry form of how they think people should think and act by using medications. Sometimes people just need a healthier life style or to be talked through things, not medicated.
ReplyDeleteI do think that he had a point when he said someone has to be maladjusted, because you always have to have an opposing argument for your argument to be valid. Without an opposing argument, you can't prove them wrong, and in this society, they shut down people that oppose the system by calling them sabatours and putting them in jail. Society always needs people that are against the practices of society in order to ground the people that are making changes. Otherwise the changes may go to far and you will end up with a society such as the one in this book.
-Stephanie Tucker
In chapter 24 the booked talked about the way books were published. They are published based on the length. In the nation today books are not being published on length. Instead you can write a book on whatever you chose to write about. With the E-books and Kindles it gives our society a chance of electronic reading.
ReplyDeleteIn Chapter 24 it was discussed that books were published according to their length rather than the quality of the writing. Long novels and books were not allowed to be published only those that met the length standard that the publishing company had. Today any length of book can be published. Although, people are more likely to read short blurbs rather than a novel it doesn't affect what books will and will not be published
ReplyDelete(This is looking at #2)
ReplyDeleteVonnegut doesn't seem to be a big fan of psychiatry when it comes to this passage. He emphasizes the fact that, if someone doesn't fit into what society has dictated, then that person is mentally imbalanced, or "maladjusted". When the woman quotes her husband saying, "somebody's just got to be maladjusted; that somebody'sgot to be uncomfortable enough to wonder where people are, where they're going, and why they're going there", she's unfolding this belief that surely someone is wondering where we're going or what we're doing. That's part of being human. In our own society, we use psychiatry to treat even the smallest of problems in the name of making society "whole". The problem with this is that if people didn't question, if people weren't dissatisfied with the way things were, there would be no progress, no advancements in history. We really do need those maladjusted individuals to go beyond what we already have, and to lead us to new beginnings.
I feel like Vonnegut is definitely trying to make a statement about the publishing of books in society today with his example in chapter 24. The man's book would not get published solely based on the fact that it was not going to be popular with the masses, therefore not going to make any money, and therefore not worth being published. Do I think that this goes on today? Certainly I do. Unfortunately, money is the factor that drives society today. People pick their jobs based on money, authors write books that they know will make money, artists tend to make art that will make them money. It makes sense really, we need money to survive in today's society, however it is still kind of sad that money is the driving factor for life in our society today and not the love of the profession like the man who wrote the novel in the book had.
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