1. WSC Lecture Outline:
An Imperfect World
Words to Light the Darkness
Lamb to the Slaughter by R Dahl
Evidence by I Asimov
2. We are aiming
• To explore how these two stories are nodes for
provocative ideas on morality, truth, and
authenticity.
• To follow on and deepen our consideration of
word-level appreciation of language through
connotation and The Matrix.
• To consider ideas of authenticity and originality
through defamiliarisation and Inception.
•Can a criminal be a hero?
3. We are aiming
• What is a crime, and who decides how serious a crime is? Who should?
• Are there countries in which those accused of crimes are guilty until proven innocent?
• How can someone be proven guilty of a crime?
• What acts are considered crimes in some countries but not in others?
• To what degree should citizens be involved in law enforcement?
• Should a person be held responsible for breaking laws he or she doesn’t know about?
• Should non-citizens be tried differently for crimes than citizens?
• Should judges or juries be the ultimate arbiters of guilt or innocence?
• What is the purpose of sending someone to prison?
• Is it ever just to try one person for another person’s crime?
• Is there a difference between a crime and a crime against humanity?
• Is crime more common in certain societies or among certain groups of people?
• Can a criminal be a hero?
• Is there such a thing as “honor among thieves”?
• What is the line, if any, between justice and the law?
• Should the government be allowed to prosecute someone for a crime even if the victim says not to pursue charges?
• What is the difference between terrorism and crime?
• Can something be a crime even if it has no victims?
• Is anyone who breaks the law a criminal?
• What type of acts justify trying someone as a war criminal?
• How should countries address crime that occurs across borders?
• Should all countries follow the same legal code?
•Can a criminal be a hero?
4. We are aiming
• What is cheating? How is it different from lying?
• Is cheating ever justified?
• What are the advantages and disadvantages cheating?
• How should cheaters be punished?
• Are we morally obligated to report any cheaters we encounter?
• Under what circumstances is cheating a crime?
• Is cheating simply about “breaking the rules”? Or is it about exploiting them?
• Should there be special sporting events for athletes who want to use performance-enhancing drugs?
• Is cheating more acceptable in some cultures than in others?
• Do men and women cheat at the same rate?
• Do certain institutions encourage cheating?
• Are people born with a sense of fairness?
• How can schools prevent cheating?
• Is it possible to cheat in war?
• What is the economic perspective on cheating?
• Should cheating disqualify a politician from winning elected office? How about lying?
• Have you ever cheated?
• Lip Syncing, Autotune, and the Limits of the Authentic
5. We are aiming
• How would you define a state? Are nations and states different?
• What purposes do states serve in the world?
• How different would your life be if you had been born in a different state?
• Do “perfect” states exist in the world?
• What are the “best” and “worst” states you can think of? How are you measuring them?
• Are democracies better states than non-democracies?
• What is the difference between a failed state and a fragile state?
• What do failed (and fragile) states have in common?
• How much of state failure can be attributed to politics?
• How much of state failure can be attributed to factors beyond a state’s control?
• Who should be in charge of measuring a state’s success—its citizens, or other states?
• If you were the leader of a failed or fragile state, whom would you ask for help?
• Can there be such a thing as a failed region in a successful state? How about a successful region in a failed state?
• What happens to a state after it fails? What happens to its people?
• Has globalization made states stronger or weaker?
• Do revolutions and uprisings save states, or further doom them?
• Is a failed state a failed society?
• Are some states doomed to failure?
• Is the traditional concept of the state outdated in an age of globalization and the Internet?
• Do your best to understand the current refugee crisis, also sometimes called the "Syrian" refugee crisis. Should all
nations open their borders to people in need - or are nations right to reject any, many, or all of them?
6. We are aiming
• To explore how these two stories are nodes for
provocative ideas on morality, truth, and
authenticity.
• To follow on and deepen our consideration of
word-level appreciation of language through
connotation and The Matrix.
• To consider ideas of authenticity and originality
through defamiliarisation and Inception.
•Can a criminal be a hero?
7. Very basic plot outline
• LttS – A housewife murders her husband with
frozen leg of lamb: investigating officers eat
the evidence.
- Can a criminal be a hero?
• Evidence – A politician is considered to be a
robot, but this is never proven.
- Should cheating disqualify a politician from
winning elected office? How about lying?
8. Key Questions from WSC
• Further Key questions here:
• Is crime more common in certain societies or
among certain groups of people?
9. More detailed plots…
• LttS
Wife sits at home
Husband reveals he will divorce wife
Wife kills husband
Wife creates false alibi
Wife secretely laughs at inspectors eating lamb
10. More detailed plots…
• Evidence
Quinn and Lanning discuss whether Byerley is a
robot – never eats.
Robot morality is discussed.
Quinn attempts to get Byerley x-rayed: Byerley
lawyers him.
Byerley punches a man in the face on live TV during
a political rally to prove he is not a robot.
Byerley laughs at the possibility he is a robot.
11. A diversion… A tool for analysing:
Formalism
• Defamiliarisation.
• Visual thesaurus: interconnections of
language.
• https://www.visualthesaurus.com/
12. A tool for analysing: Formalism
• Intended connotations and possible
connotations. Does meaning exist
independently of our discovery of it?
Should all countries follow the same legal code?
• Matrix Albino fight: ‘ghosts’ of meaning –
become tangible upon belief or recognition.
13. A tool for analysing: Formalism
• Does intention matter when we interpret a
text?
Is anyone who breaks the law a criminal?
• Swearing in Wolverhampton…
• Death of the Author
14. Word-Level Analysis Diversion
• We are invited to sympathise with a murderer.
This is an increasingly common genre in
popular fiction and film.
• Where in this story do we familiarise expected
connotations (especially as we know the
ending?).
• Tired/told/knew
15. Word-Level analysis in our stories
• Opening paragraph
• Death paragraph
• Discussion of the murder weapon
16. Word-Level Analysis Diversion
• We are invited to consider not only if L is a robot,
but also whether this matters. This is an
increasingly common genre in popular fiction and
film.
• Where in this story do we familiarise expected
connotations (especially as we know the
ending?).
• man./human 61 times: robot/robots 81 times.
17. Word Level analysis
• Introduction of Mr Byerley,
• Robots laws of ethics.
• Madness at conflict.
• Harroway trying to prosecute Byerley
• Hostile attitude into the atmosphere
• Robo psychologists…
18. Further Defamiliarisation (?)
• Being familiar with things is not always a bad
thing.
• We need routine and first impressions in order
to... Otherwise our minds will…
• Primary recency effect.
19. Further Defamiliarisation
• In LttS, our perspective is shifted so that we
morally agree with the murder of her
husband.
• We are invited to connive with her success.
• Is there such a thing as “honor among
thieves”?
20. Further Defamiliarisation
• In Evidence, we are called upon to question what it is to be
authentic.
• Are we morally obligated to report any cheaters we encounter?
• The zombie question.
• The idea of authenticity.
• http://thecreatorsproject.vice.com/blog/prove-youre-not-a-robot-
with-the-bot-or-not-poetry-challenge
• Robots in Japan; talk to a robot ai.
21. • How important is authenticity to us? How
important is being original? Lampstand idea...
• Do we want to place ethics in the hands of a
robot, who can be blind to justice?
• To Kill a Mockingbird - equal before the eyes of
the law, rather than other things.
22. Inception Ending
• https://youtu.be/XQPy88-E2zo?t=2m44s - it
he a robot or not?
• Whirling Top: if it stays spinning, his
experience is a dream. If it falls, he is in reality.
• Does it fall or stay spinning in this video?
23. Final Questions
• Do we believe that truth matters?
• What is more important: truth or effect?
• Final question from WSC: What is cheating?
How is it different from lying?
24. Both stories ending with ‘laugh’
‘chuckled’ – purposefully playful.
• Light for hope and release?
Or…
• Light for joy and irreverence?
