Interstellar Movie Analysis: Solution for Climate Change?

Without being clearly stated in the movie, one could easily conclude that the natural destruction that Interstellar revolves around is closely similar to what we experience ourselves—our decidedly real problem which is Climate Change. Interstellar basically tells us a story about a bunch of people trying to save their species from being extinct by sending people off to space to find new planet to inhabit and populate, leaving the wasted earth behind. It is logical and in the future it might be possible. But I don’t agree that jetting off to space is the right way to solve our problem of Climate Change. Saving the species, maybe, but it wouldn’t be long until the humans are faced with similar problem with their destructive nature.

First of all, it should be emphasized that while earth would be able to withstand Global Warming, it is the human that wouldn’t be able to survive it. With today’s technology, it seems far-fetched for the current generation to be able to find suitable planet to live in, or even survive living and adapting to the non-earth atmosphere for a long time; although it might be easily solved sometime later in the future. In reality, the only planet that astronomers found similar to earth in capability of sustaining life is Kepler-186f. The planet is located 500 light years away from earth with similar size and distance from its star in habitable zone that would allow liquid water to pool on its surface and therefore might be able to sustain life. It is also a very loose ‘might’ used because being in habitable zone doesn’t mean it would be habitable for human to live in.

Moreover, it would immoral and irresponsible to wreak havoc in the earth and then choose to leave it behind. “We are not meant to save the world. We are meant to leave it”. That is the direct quote expressed by the genius NASA scientist in the movie. It is refusing to take consequences of what they have done and it is cowardice. Life in earth is more than humans; there are plants and animals which are also God’s creature, and compared to human’s superior mind, they are helpless to save themselves from the disaster human helps to accelerate that is Climate Change. Therefore, as the one blessed with most, we are responsible to save them. Not just animals and plants, it is immoral to leave other humans behind while a small group get to survive. Some say it is a sacrifice for the sake of the species, but I don’t think it is a noble sacrifice when the one being sacrificed is unaware of what’s happening. It is a deception and no one should has the right to decide who gets live or gets to be sacrificed.

Also, who’s to say that it wouldn’t happen again? If humans manage to run away and build a new generation in a brand new planet, it bounds to happen all over again because humans have learned nothing. Humans, consciously or unconsciously, would exploit the source in the planet and help accelerate the destruction of that planet in the same way or different, and it would be back to square zero for humans, having to find another planet to colonize without really fixing anything. Humans would move around leaving path of destruction in their wake. Humans would be stripped of their humanities and would be no different with the monsters they used to tell their kids in fairytales.

That’s why I think the best solution for Climate Change and Global Warming is to fix it and prevent it from getting worse, especially while we still can. The earth is not just ours, we coexist with other creatures, and we’re responsible with what we might have done to the earth to help accelerate its (maybe) impending destruction. There might come the time that human has no choice but to abandon ship and jet off to space to preserve the species. However, even if the worst has come to worst, human has to remember what they’re leaving behind and what they have to learn so that it wouldn’t be happening all over again. As for now, human has to give all they have to avoid of that happening.

Reference List:

1.       Lofgren, Kristine. 2014. http://inhabitat.com/astronomers-reveal-the-most-livable-earth-like-planet-ever-discovered/. 14 December 2014.

2.       Knapp, Alex. 2014. http://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp/2014/04/17/nasa-has-discovered-the-first-potentially-habitable-earth-sized-planet/. 14 December 2014.

3.       Bunch, Sonny. 2014. http://freebeacon.com/blog/interstellars-rejection-of-climate-change-hysteria/. 14 December 2014.

4.       Gittell, Noah. 2014. http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/11/why-interstellar-ignores-climate-change/382788/. 14 December 2014.

5.       Shoard, Catherine. 2014. http://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/oct/29/interstellar-michael-caine-christopher-nolan-climate-change. 14 December 2014.

6.       Romm, Joe. 2014. http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/11/21/3593599/interstellar-climate-change/. 14 December 2014

Does School Prepare Us For Life?

I am a student, and it could be said that school is my life. I spent about nine hours a day at school at weekdays and sometimes my weekend is also spent at school. Not to mention the task I was assigned that could take much of my spare time, and of course studying for exams is never an easy task. Students are demanded to study lots of subjects and to be a good student, one should master all of the subjects. While most of student’s time is spent on school, those theoretical subjects they learned don’t practically help them to prepare for life.

With lots of time spent on irrelevant subjects and from doing their ‘job’ as a student, students are left with so little time and it left them feeling tired and disabling them from doing what they really want to do. In turn, students are unable to develop personal and soft skill which is vital to survive in life. Moreover, school generalizes its students. Every each one of the students has different characteristic and destination in mind, so it would be unfair to force all of them to study compulsory subjects that might have nothing to do with their purpose. They would only waste their time with unnecessary subjects when they could have spent that time on developing themselves. For example, a student with interest of being a musician, why would he need to study biology? It doesn’t make sense, however it would be okay if he chooses to out of curiousity.

School is about strengthening the foundation of knowledge, so it would be good for those who already has good life skill. School doesn’t teach students to identify their interest and talent. School doesn’t teach students how to interact with people around them. School doesn’t teach students how to have a good ethics and moral, so that students would be able to stand for their principle and to fight for what they believe in. I believe without being able to master those skills, any knowledge wouldn’t be able to be put on good use. However for those who already master that, those skills would be a tool and that knowledge would be the ingredients to succeed. They certainly would advance more than their peers, even if their exam score might not show that.

Moreover, some people could earn knowledge outside school and be good at life. Many dropouts are able to build their success from scratch. By dropping out, it doesn’t mean they stop learning. They are curious, and they are able to learn from all around him by himself. They are able to filter the knowledge of what they really need and what they don’t. With good life skills, they could utilize those knowledge to do what they really want to do and succeed at it. School doesn’t guarantee any of us success, it only depends on the person and therefore, the personal skill they possess.

School is still important because it teaches us the foundation of knowledge, however it should be emphasized that it requires more than knowledge to survive. For example, if a student wants to be a doctor, it is necessary that he studies biology. But, without the interpersonal skill to interact with his patient, he wouldn’t be a good and accommodating doctor. The patient wouldn’t come to him and he wouldn’t earn the value of being a doctor. Those skills couldn’t be learned by memorizing, and it has to be practiced since one is young until it turns into a habit. That is why I think school has to focus more on developing student’s skill rather than cramming their brain with too many subjects and exams at once.

Argumentative essay on education inspired by @Sulibreezy video on youtube; I Will Not Let An Exam Result Decide My Fate (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-eVF_G_p-Y)

Definition

Brother/Sister

When the word brother or sister is mentioned, the first thing that comes to mind of most people is the person they are related by blood; the person who was born from the same mother and father. The only thing that differs them is the gender—brother for male and sister for female. But then, the definition of brother and sister extended. Being born from only one same parent also makes people sibling, even though many calls it ‘half-sibling’. Those definitions restrict sibling to a mere relation of blood. It says nothing about the sentimental bond that come along with it. A sibling is more than that person who just happen to have similar physical genetics. Instead, sibling is about the bond that allows a person to be so comfortable with another person that they could share their life with—without romance attached. This role requires the people involved to stick with each other through thick and thin, as a family should be. Therefore, sibling could also be about the relationship that allows people to be comfortable with each other as a family should be.

People born in the same family should have had that relationship. That relationship could be nurtured from the time they grew up together into adulthood and any hardship they go through together. They grow up learning about themselves and learning to know each other as well. The love and the responsibility towards each other would grow and that is essentially what sibling is. This is not to say siblinghood in reality always happen that way. Instead, sometimes siblings related by blood do not get along at all. It could happen because of many factors; divorced parents which caused them to grow in separate homes, extreme sibling rivalry, deep hidden spite because a problem that happened in their past, fighting over inheritance, or they just cannot get along with each other. By being in bad terms with their own biological siblings, many people could be missing out something that could have been priceless.

 However, some people could be siblings without even having a hair with the same DNA. The only son in a family could have earned a sibling—he could still experience that relationship with someone. The people meeting in the train for example, in one moment they could have been strangers, but only with a few words and stories they could have developed a relationship similar to what typical siblings have. A brotherhood or sisterhood could be a community in which contains people who acknowledge each other as family even without slightest blood relation. They feel the belonging and their relationship is not built based on any agendas like an organization is. To have many bonds like those is when one could feel truly home wherever they go.

Brothers and sisters are not just people who are related by blood, but rather it could also be two people who feel comfortable with each other. Siblings stick with each other through thick and thin. That priceless bond is not easy to be forged and should be cherished.

The Chosen One

Comparison and Contrast

With great power comes a great responsibility; that’s the highlight of being a chosen one. In one perspective, it is benefitting to gain such a power. However, using it wisely is the struggle many could not do, and by being a chosen one it is definitely a must to muster that skill. It is not an easy task to do. Percy Jackson and Harry Potter are some examples of chosen ones. However, what differs them from each other is the fact that Percy Jackson realized that being a chosen one is a baggage from day one. He yearned to be ordinary and tried to change the fate. On the other side, Harry Potter accepted the fact that he was chosen and went along with that fate. It is not such a major difference, but it showcased their personality. Though, it is much easier to pinpoint the similarities between them; their selflessness. They try very hard for the sake of the people around them and to save the world. Being a hero means doing the right thing. They have to put their causes above their own need, and that trait is what makes the job even harder and nobler.

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Luke Castellan

Luke Castellan

When there is good, there is also evil. Like yin and yang, the world strive for balance. Yet, the world is not entirely black and white. Rather, it is gray—evil and good could coexist together, it’s just the matter of which trait dominates the most. To make a good story, an author have to mirror the world and make his/her story as realistic as it could be without forgetting to entertain the reader. That is why villain is one of the important element of a story, and also, without conflict between the protagonist and antagonist, it would not be a complete story.

I will analyze a villain from my favourite book, Luke Castellan of Percy Jackson and The Olympians. Percy Jackson and The Olympians itself is a children book about a demigod, a child of a god from the Greek Pantheon—like Zeus the god of the sky, Poseidon the god of the sea, etc. Percy Jackson, the main character is prophesied to save the Olympus from Kronos, an evil titan who wants to overthrow the gods. To achieve that ambition, Kronos, which is a Titan, needs to have demigod accomplice—or rather, an army of it. Luke Castellan happened to be the leader of that army and the right hand of Kronos throughout the story.

The reason I chose Luke as my favourite villain is because I think he has a complex motif of why he did what he did. I also didn’t particularly think of him as a very evil person, just a good person who was lost and had been misled by misguided ambition. My belief is further supported by the fact that he was a good person not just in the beginning of the story, but also at the end of the story. However, he was just a villain who strives to destroy Olympus in between. It makes me realize that even a good person could do bad things if the situation motivates him, when the world had done too much to hurt him that he finally snapped.

At first, in the story, he was introduced as a good guy. He was a senior camper in Camp Half-Blood along with Annabeth, the girl who was soon to be Percy’s best friend and love interest. He helped Percy to find his way to the Camp, and Percy acknowledged him as mentor in all things half blood. Luke and Annabeth went way back; they had run away from their respective home together along with another friend of theirs, Thalia, who had been turned into a Pine Tree by the gods by the time Percy got into the camp. In addition, Annabeth had a crush on Luke. That’s why no one saw it coming when Luke betrayed Percy, and in turn Olympus, by trying to kill Percy after he was prophesied to be the ‘Savior of Olympus’. It turned out, Luke had been influenced by Kronos to be his ally.

Throughout the story, it was soon found out that his motif was mainly because he felt the gods were unjust and he felt wronged. He was a son of Hermes, who was the god of roads and travelers. There was a rule for Olympians that they could not directly give help or have too much contact with their children, because it would come off as favoritism. It would be difficult for the child to think that his parent did not have time to care about him. But, it would be mor difficult for a child of Hermes, because Hermes had lots of children from mortals. In addition, there was Thalia, his best friend. When he, Annabeth, and Thalia first came to the camp, they were chased by monsters. Thalia sacrificed her life to protect Annabeth and Luke, and only then, Zeus—who is her father—took pity on her and turned her into a pine tree. Luke felt abandoned by his father and felt betrayed by the gods. That is why his resentment against the gods festered for years.

Now that I think about it, I believe that Luke had a point. I don’t agree about what he did, but I do understand why he did it. The gods were selfish, and full of agendas. The gods almost seemed like they didn’t care about their children, and how did turning Thalia into a tree even helps the situation? Zeus could have helped Thalia, considering she was his daughter. He could have done more. I bet that was what’s going on Luke’s mind when he decided to join Kronos’ Army. Maybe he thought that things would be better off if the gods were no more. But, even if it is all true about the gods, the gods still strived to make the world a better place and to create balance, unlike Kronos who strived to make chaos of the world. The gods were not completely good—they had speck of evil in them, just like all of us—but, compared to Kronos, the gods were way better. Gradually, Luke realized that because in the end he chose to sacrifice himself to save his friends and the Olympus. He finally realized that it’s the right thing to do.

But, if the situations were different, I think he would not be the way he was. If the gods were kinder and care more, I think he wouldn’t do what he did. If he had stronger principle, he would not do what he did. By analyzing this villain, I understand that sometimes, the situation could force us to do bad thing. That is why we have to have strong principle. Even if we think it is for a good cause, it could still be a bad thing. I also understand that even a good person could do bad things, but that does not necessarily make them an evil person. It is just the sad truth of life that I learned from this children book.

In The Eye of Beholder

This is the writing about me and my dream job in particular, in the eyes of one of my friend--Arnettha Septinez.

DINA’S DREAM JOB

Every people in the world have their own dream. The dream itself may vary – it can be a dream family, a dream house, and many more. Now, what kind of dream are we going to talk about? Right, as you have been guessing, we are going to talk about dream job – Andina’s dream job.

              As a child, Andina, who is commonly known as Dina, dreamed to be a teacher. However, as the time goes on, she realised a thing that can be difficult for her for being a teacher. That thing is patience. A teacher needs to have a high level of patience, but she doubt she has it. She is not certain that she can be as good as the teachers who had taught her. Therefore, her dream slowly changed.

              Dina’s dream job is now becoming an IT Consultant or Business Analyst. She likes technology, but she does not really into a very technical job like programmer, although she is interested in a major full of programming. “I like to think about systems—creating systems, analyzing systems, and thinking how to make it better,” she said. She wants to work in a technology-related industry. It is not a problem if she is going to be in the marketing field, she even loves it! Applying technology for marketing (e.g. e-Commerce) sounds interesting to her.

              Last but not least, family is the most important thing for Dina. Her family is her source of motivation, even her inspiration is her own parents! They also help her to decide big things in her life. “After all, blood is thicker than water,” she smiled.

First Words

Hello!
This is Andina's writing to say hello to you my reader! (if any)
Since this is my first post, i'm going to be brief. I like writing, but I am aware that i'm completely clueless as how to do it right. And I have the tendency to babble, a lot. I'm here to improve myself and spend some time being productive, amen to that! I also have the tendency to be careless and write whatever I want. You have been warned.
That being said, see you all later!