Enduring Love

A book that I think is particularly relevant to this class is Ian McEwan's Enduring Love. It's about a man who saves a little boy from an escaping hot air balloon with the help of three others. One of the others turns out to be a religious nutjob who is convinced that he and the protagonist are cosmically linked, and that they belong together in god's great plan. The work is a fascinating study of both self-deception and protective lying: the religious guy believes with all his heart that the narrator loves him, and that all his protestations and denials and silences are part of a carefully-crafted code to obscure his love from himself, his wife and those he knows. The narrator, meanwhile, lies to his wife about his stalker, first not wanting to involve her and then fabricating encounters and threats to get her to take it seriously, since she thinks he's going crazy and it's all in his head. The book is a fascinating glimpse into fractured psychology and the things we do to convince ourselves of what we want to hear.

(Sorry this is late. I totally forgot.)

Jordan Ash

In November 1772, a mysterious figure emerged from the Russian wilderness and quietly descended upon a peasant village.  His name was Emelian Pugachev, a Cossack, and he was about to set in motion what would become perhaps the biggest con in recorded history.

Pugachev was an army deserter who had been playing cat-and-mouse with Russian authorities.  He soon grew weary of the constant cycle of pursuit, capture, escape, and recapture, so he hatched a bold plan that, if successful, would’ve had him rise from lowly fugitive to Emperor of Russia.  It was a plan so brilliant in its simultaneous simplicity and audacity: Pugachev, the youngest son of a modest Cossack landowner, decided to begin convincing people that he was in fact the Holy Russian Emperor.

Emperor Peter III to be exact.  Over a decade before, Russia had been rocked by the violent coup that saw the overthrow and murder of Peter III.  Peter III’s assassination was partially due to his expressed wish for the emancipation of the serfs and greater equality for peasants.  For this reason he became very popular among the lower masses, but much less so amongst the elite. However a rumor began to spread around the empire that Peter III was not dead, but in fact wandering around the wilderness disguised as a peasant waiting for the right time to reveal himself and lead the serfs and peasants in what would’ve been something of a revolution. 

Pugachev sensed the popular desire for a “benevolent” tzar like Peter III, and he manipulated this desire.  It seems that all that was needed for Pugachev to amass a following of over 30,000 serfs, peasants, Cossacks, Muslims and others almost as simple as striding into that first village exclaiming: “I am Peter III.”   This simplification would not be too far from the truth, although his popular appeal was also reinforced by Pugachev’s promises to give all the marginalized groups exactly what they wanted.  His many proclamations were tailored to fit the specific desires of his particular audiences. 

Of course, for those skeptics, Pugachev had a few tricks up his sleeve.  Despite the fact that he was completely illiterate, Pugachev convinced the other illiterate peasants of what was supposed to be his elite education by confidently drawing lines of scribbles on paper and calling them decrees.  He had also managed to obtain a stamp roughly resembling an official imperial seal to reinforce his image. 

Russian troops were eventually diverted from battling the Ottoman Empire to put down the revolt.  Pugachev was arrested, tortured, made to confess, and then brutally executed.  His severed head was put on display in St. Petersburg to warn others against such ambitious plans of deceptive insurrection.   

Yes, Pugachev ultimately failed in his “big con”, but he must be given some form and degree of credit for the sheer scale of confidence it would take to lead thousands almost entirely on the basis of a lie. 

The Lies That Get in the Way of Justice

In light of all of the things that have happened yesterday, I would like to post on the decision to not indict Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson. Despite killing someone, Wilson goes free. Attached is a link which talks more about the Ferguson lie. This particular lie disrupts the credibility of the justice system.

The Ferguson Lie    

The serial killer who never killed a single person

On the fascination for liars and psychopaths

This is an older article (from a couple of years ago) but, because of this class, it came back to mind.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/oct/20/thomas-quick-bergwall-sweden-murder

It’s about a Swedish man Sture Bergwell who was “a murderer who never killed anybody.”

Bergwell was originally arrested for robbery (which did happen) but then confessed to being responsible for over 30 murders, and was then judged guilty for 8 of them.

The murders he confessed to were unresolved cases. Bergwell made a list of ones he could claim, learnt the details and fit them into a narrative in which he was the killer. As truth came to light, officials were greatly criticized for falling for his ploy. I think this brings us back to our discussions regarding con artists, how they are conscious of the expectation people have of a certain type. Once they are profiled as a certain type, they will play into our expectations. Here, if Bergwell was considered as insane, then loose ends and conflicted details wouldn’t play against him, but actually consolidate the view people had of him.

Another issue is “why?”
When questioned by journalists, Bergwell said “It was about belonging to something.” And then : "I was a very lonely person when it all started," he continues. "I was in a place with violent criminals and I noticed that the worse or more violent or serious the crime, the more interest someone got from the psychiatric personnel. I also wanted to belong to that group, to be an interesting person in here."

I think this links back to the fascination that surrounds psychopaths. When he was still perceived as a murderer, he garnered a lot of interest in the Swedish media. Then when he withdrew from the spotlight, this, in turn, caught the interest of a documentary-maker. And once he was exposed interest didn't lessen; on the contrary it increased and he had a book written about him!

How To Lay Sod in 5 Easy Steps

“Look up there, the moon is green tonight.”

I looked up to the muddy grey sky, at the off-white moon that floated in the middle of the smog and the light pollution. It looked just the same as always to me.

            “Woah, it is really green!” I said incredulously. Lance nodded with a solemn wisdom. We sat in silence for a while longer.

            “Its because the lawns are really coming in.”

            “Huh?”

            “The lawns. On the moon. They tried to put down sod at first but it didn’t take and it all died. The moon got really yellow around then. But then they tried over with seeds, and it looks like the lawns are finally really coming in.”

            That made sense to me. The moon seems like it could really do with some grass, the videos from the moon landings and stuff always looked really bleak. I squinted intensely at the little bright oval and tried as hard as I could to see it as green, but nothing. 

            “Yeah, they must be,” I agreed. “Really green tonight.”

            After a while we got up and started walking back home. I couldn’t look up at the green moon while we walked because I had to keep my attention on my feet. I had to time each step perfectly, and sometimes I’d have to take a big jump once I fell behind, making sure each foot landed squarely in the middle of each concrete block of sidewalk. I peeked over at Lance who was walking in the same way. When I looked back down, I froze. My right sneaker was stuck to the ground, the white oval of the toe breaking the clean black line between two slabs of concrete.

            “Lance.” I was terrified. He stopped and looked at me, and then followed my gaze down to my shoe. He looked back up at my eyes.

            “Oh shit,” he said. “Mom.” Then he took off down the block, running back to where our mother would be collapsed across the living room floor, broken. I stepped off the sidewalk into the street and walked home, shamefully, through the green moonlight.

Dexter - Serial Killer/Con Man?

I started watching the tv show Dexter earlier this year, and I immediately thought back to it when we started discussing the themes presented in this course. The series is based around Dexter Morgan, a serial killer who follows a certain 'moral' code in that he only kills other serial killers or people he as otherwise verified as 'bad'. If this doesn't twisted enough, Dexter works as a blood spatter analyst from the Miami Metro Police Department. He often analyzes his own crime scenes, or, when the police department fails, takes it into his own vigilante hands to stop the murderer who's crime scenes he has been investigating.
As a child, Dexter's adopted father took notice of his psychopathic tendencies and need to kill, so rather than attempt to address this issue, he taught Dexter how to use this killing 'addiction' for the greater good. He imparted on Dexter a certain code he must employ whenever killing, so that Dexter could only kill bad people, people who didn't deserve to live.
In order to maintain his serial killer lifestyle, Dexter must don a persona of normalcy, portraying himself as an everyday lab geek, husband, brother, and father to the rest of society. This series then brings up obvious issues of lying and a sense of an 'essential self' that we have been discussing throughout the course. Every day of his life Dexter must live out a lie on some senses, hiding the essential part of his being; his need to kill. He lies to everyone around him, but what is the root, the need of this lie? For Dexter, his lying is imperative to his survival; if he wants to avoid a death sentence or spending the rest of his life in jail, this charade must remain in tact. Furthermore, Dexter lies to protect others. He can't bear the idea of his sister, his wife, his co-workers, and his own son, to ever know the truth of his true self. Is then Dexter's lying a positive action? Does it have ultimate roots in morality?
Furthermore, this series brings up important issues of life and its precious value. Dexter acts as a vigilante in many ways, bringing justice to the city, as he sees it, by killing off the murderous scum that don't deserve life. But who is he to evaluate whether they deserve life or not? Is this 'code' that his father imparted on him truly applicable in every possible situation?
If you get a chance to watch this show, I really would, because it really makes one question whether lying is always detrimental, or whether in some instances, like Dexter's, it's perhaps necessary, and for the best.

Gone Girl

I was originally going to post about this film when I saw it; however, I did not complete that post, so I figured I might as well share my thoughts now.

Overall, Gone Girl is an interesting film, within the context of both this class and another rhetoric course I am in, Rhetoric of Film: Gothic Horror.

With regards to this course, I have been intrigued with the notion of the liars paradox: that is, when you someone is telling the truth, yet you think they are lying. Because you think they are lying (when in fact they are telling the truth), you become the liar in search for truth.

This is a major premise of the film because a lot of people suspect Nick of killing his wife; however, it is actually his wife Amy who has framed him. She is a writer, famous for her children's stories. The film is literally a movie version of a fictional narrative that is about fiction, a liar. Just like all the stories in this course, it is this never ending cycle of fiction and the search for truth.

In fact, this film really complicates romantic relationships. To be honest, if I saw this movie with my significant other I'd feel really strange because it makes you question the inherent Truth & idea that you can completely know someone when you're in a romantic relationships with them.

The film distorts this notion to the point that Amy frames Nick; Nick realizes this that he's been framed and confronts her. By the end of the film, Nick is still bound to Amy for many reasons but it is a distortion of the idealized form of romance that is embedded within American narratives.

The film asks questions and builds upon cultural anxieties about romance: can you ever fully and truly know your lover? Do you love the person for what you've project them to be or who they truly are?

In an odd way, the ending of the film critiques the romanticized ideal of unconditional love. In contemporary culture, we believe unconditional love to be an unchanging love. But reality is, unconditional love requires you to love someone despite their faults, the way they change as a person, and more than anything - their lies. Because if all humans are liars (if it is inherent in the performative and means of socialization), then we are bound to confront this notion of truth and lies at some point. So unconditional love means to love despite the lies and that you will never truly 'know' someone, even the person you bound yourself to for eternity.

The Serial Podcast - a true crime investigation

As an avid listener to Ira Glass' "This American Life" series, I was more than excited when I heard they would be creating a new true crime series. "The Serial Podcast", created by Sarah Koenig, has captured the nation's attention to a murder that occurred 15 years ago in Baltimore to high school to honor roll student Hae Min Lee. Initially, it appears to be a simple story about a high school romance gone horribly wrong. An angry ex-boyfriend who snapped due to an inability to deal with rejection. Koenig, after receiving the case file out of the blue, decides to talk to the supposed perpetrator Adnan Syed. An inmate of a Baltimore prison, they discuss the events freely leading to mixture of anger, conviction, and doubt in regards to whether he truly committed the murder. Mr. Syed is the ultimate unreliable narrator and he isn't the only one. With numerous players including past friends, a disbarred lawyer, detectives, and other suspects - everyone appears to have different narratives of what truly happened. "Serial" is powerful in that it explores the fickle nature of memory and how easily people can be tainted due to external or internal circumstances. How can one truly recall where they were and what they were doing on a particular day even 5 years ago? What were you doing on a Thursday 2 months ago? This begs the question - what essentially is truth if no one remembers it? The series is a roughly 12 hour meditation on the nature of truth and the American justice system. With countless lies being weaved throughout this ongoing story, I believe it would make a great companion piece to this class.

More info -

Serial is currently the #1 ranked podcast on itunes. There are even spoiler podcasts about Serial (such as "The Serial Serial") that discuss the case on a weekly basis with such fervor it reminds me of shows like True Detective.

The show is currently on Episode 9 (and it should be listened to chronologically)

http://serialpodcast.org/

Have a wonderful thanksgiving everyone.

An experiment with an unreliable narrator

This story is something I wrote, playing with the idea of an unreliable narrator. I'm not sure how well that part of it turned out but the story is amusing, I think.

The Bench by the Road

            "We had to do it, don't you see?" he said, seating himself at a bench at the edge of the park.

            "Whom do you mean by 'we'?" I asked, following his lead and taking a seat.

            "My sister and I, of course. They were our friends, and nobody knew about them. It had to stay that way. So we did what had to be done."

            "I'm listening." The day was a bit cool; it was still only autumn, but the weather had already turned, and I buttoned up my black pea coat against the breeze.

            "It began years ago. It was all just great fun back then, cameraderie for the four of us. Suburban life as a young child has its dull moments, but for two country kids like Harry and Mary it was always exciting. They really took a liking to us, as soon as we introduced ourselves. I mean, we really made them."

            "You made them?"

            That's right, they were ours."

            "I'm not sure I follow what you mean," I commented, but he seemed not to hear, and continued telling his story.

            "For a time, we were inseperable. We enjoyed it, and we played some great games together. I can still remember the time Harry and I climbed up to the top of the water tower, and tested each other to see how close we could get to the edge. Harry was better at it than I ever was, his balance was about as good as his guts. Daring, you know, it's a big deal for a boy. Mary and Sis' hadn't wanted to come along, they had their own girl things.

            "The two of them were homeschooled by their parents, who were still a bit old-fashioned, since they were from... well, somewhere. We never really thought that out. A farm, in any case. It doesn't matter. They would come visit us at lunch, and we would always wait by the edge of the school's field for them to come. They always refused our offers for parts of our lunch, insisting they had already eaten, though we imagined they weren't so well off. It was just so polite, as only such people can be. I never could get used to that about them. So we would sit there on the bench by the road and talk with our two friends.

            "And the other kids would look over at us with an odd something in their eye. Sis' would always notice it first, but I was always sure it was jealousy. We left it at that, and nobody ever asked us what we were doing by the edge of the field. It was as if they didn't even know we were there. So we acted like it too, and never talked to anybody else about it. They were our secret friends, who only existed when nobody else was there. But those looks, they said so much more than any of us could have expressed, especially at that age."

            I interrupted: "Would you say they seemed accusing?"

            He leaned back on the bench for a moment, thinking. After a moment he replied, "I still think they were jealous. We spent so much time with Harry and Mary, we started to ignore our real, good friends. And when you're ten, you don't really care about that, it's just fun to run about and make a ruckus. Scrapes, mud, torn clothes – all signs of a fine afternoon in the walnut orchards."

            "When did that change?"

            "It took a long time, at least to a kid. By the time we had noticed that we had lost some true friends, it was too late to save those friendships. We never really got close with the same people again, but by the end of all this, it didn't matter. Grade school ended and we moved on to middle school. We made other good friends."

            "Like Harry and Mary?"

            "No. That was a mistake. It was that damned politeness, I started to think something was strange about that. Too polite, just too polite – at least when we were together, the four of us.

            "Sometimes they would sleep over, and then Harry would sleep in my bed and Mary with Sis'. That's when things changed. Not at first; the first few times they slept over, they stayed how they always were. It wasn't until the winter, that first winter after we made them, that they started to change. I noticed how my sister was acting at breakfast, and I knew something had happened. After they had gone, and we were on our way to school, I asked her about it, throwing a nervous glance around to make sure they were out of earshot.

            "I said, 'What is it, I saw how you looked earlier. What happened?' And she replied, 'Just Mary. She was so wierd! When I wanted to sleep, she wouldn't stop talking. And it wasn't just talking, she was talking about you.' I tried to find out what she had said, but Sis' just shut up and stared down as she walked. I knew it wasn't good, but I just ignored it. Or tried to. I started to get mad about Mary, in that way only children get mad and want to pull hair or throw dirt. Tantrum-and-then-cry mad. It passed by lunchtime, and we sat together and ran around our bench by the road, chasing each other until we fell down, laughing.

            "But that wasn't the end of it. The two of them began to spend much more time at our house, since it was rather cold. Maybe it was only since we were indoors more and were more bored. I only remember the feeling. Either way, they stayed over more often, and I noticed that Harry wasn't quite acting the same, too. I started to really be annoyed by him, it could just be so stupid!"

            "Do you remember what exactly it was that he did?"

            "No, unfortunately I just know how I felt back then; those vague notions of the memories from the child I was at the time."

            "You and your sister were also changing, growing up. I'm sure that had something to do with this," I ventured. This sudden confession of a half forgotten childhood left me feeling unsure. I had never seen this side of him before, never heard this story. The cold seemed to creep in more deeply around the cuffs and collar of my coat.

            "You're right. We started to be annoyed by that kind of friend. It was just little quirks about the two of them, mannerisms that started to get on our nerves. We began to deeply despise them, but only secretly, between each other. Until one day, when I decided I would get back at Harry.

            "I pushed him out of the bed while he was sleeping, and left him there on the floor without a blanket. It was really only a harmless prank, but the shivers he had the next day were something else. I pretended not to know anything, claiming he must have fallen out, but told Sis' everything after they had gone. She laughed, and I knew she was going to do it too, the next time they stayed over."

            "They didn't stay away after you had done this for some time?"

            "Well, they never really left. And we decided on the spot to trap them."

            "Trap them? And nobody noticed?"

            "Who would have? We kept them in our closets, behind our clothes, and kept them gagged and blindfolded, so nobody could see them and they coudn't see anybody. Not that they would have, anyway. We let them live in the dark. Every now and again, on the occasional sunny days that winter, we brought them outside and would tear off the blindfolds, and see how they squirmed when the light burned their eyes. Then we would throw them back in the closet. After a while they couldn't stand up anymore, and we tied their hands to coat hangers to keep them up."

            "You did this to your friends?" I stood up and faced him. I was perfectly beside myself, his calmness all the more infuriating (where was his moral compass?), and I had to fight back the urge to call the police. Curiosity won out over my outrage, however, and I sat down again as he continued.

            "They weren't anymore. We hated them. We wanted to get rid of them, we just didn't know how – but it was just a matter of time. We were all there was keeping them in this world. And we weren't done with them yet. We invented all sorts of ways to torment them, things only children know how to think up – some of which only sounded cool but probably didn't really work – and would try them out when nobody was around. I can't remember any of the details now, but I would steal bits of things from Dad to turn into devices to try out on them. Every now and again, Dad would find his things in the backyard, bent up after our tinkering, and he would blow his top."

            "He never asked what they were or why you did it?"

            "No, he just got angry. That was his way." His statement was almost naively plain, but in that way that makes one believe it all the more. His facial expression, a mix of definitiveness and, if I read it properly, fear, supported his credibility.

            "What would you do?"

            "I only really remember one time, since it was winter and the school was closed, we tied them to the bench by the road with a rope I took from the garage, and would offer them food every now and again. ‘Oh, but you won't take it, you already ate at home,‘ we would say, and eat it ourselves. Then we would laugh, and run around the bench until we fell down, laughing even harder."

            "Nobody pulled over to ask what was going on?"

            "All our neighbors knew we were just playing around. It was all harmless, after all! So, one day, Sis' and I were hunting around in the garage, the treasure chest for all our fantastic torture techniques, and we found a dusty box of snail poison. We took it right away, back to the bench where we had left them, and made them eat it. They squirmed and protested, but it was time to move on, to put an end to it. Then we buried them where we knew we could always find them again."

            "Under the bench by the road?"

            He gave me a quizzical, unbelieving glance, and shifted on the bench to look at me straight-on. He seemed to be waiting for me to figure something out.

            "No, in our minds, where else?" he finally answered. "That's where we all put the figments of our imaginations when we're done with them. You didn't think they were real, did you?"

FROM CHELSEA LOW ON ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT

My favorite TV show, Arrested Development, features a main character who is probably the youngest and definitely the only con woman we have seen so far this semester, Maeby Funke. At just 14 years old Maeby learned that she could earn money much faster than working at her family's banana stand by lying and conning. First, she posed as her imaginary wheelchair-ridden "sister" Surely Funke and raised money for a mysterious terminal illness she called "BS." After her first con went off without a hitch and surprising success, Maeby's next con took place at a major movie studio while she was tagging along with her aspiring actor father to an audition. Maeby cleverly conned her way into a job as a movie executive which she held down for the next year, during which she produced several films. Her lies were only exposed when her cousin sent invitations to her 16th birthday party to everyone he found in Maeby's address book, which was filled with movie executives and celebrities who had no idea that the movie executive they'd worked with for the past year was only half the age she claimed to be. Afterwards, she briefly held a job at another movie studio until it was discovered that she had no high school diploma.

The following clip shows how Maeby would deflect any comments in conversation that could expose her true age. Her signature catchphrase "marry me!" became a running gag throughout the show because of how often Maeby would need to use it on her clueless coworkers complimenting her youthful appearance. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAH2NMjHOGU

This all might have been avoided if Maeby's plan to become a devout Christian hadn't quickly gone awry due to a simple misunderstanding....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsBpjqsI1tQ

The Great Gatsby Just Might Help Us Understand "The Wolf Of Wall Street"

We've mentioned it before but Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby" easily could have been included in our reading list for this semester. As we're starting to read "The Wolf of Wall Street," I find myself identifying many connections between the two stories. I found this review of The Great Gatsby from when the film came out last year.

http://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/the-serious-superficiality-of-the-great-gatsby

At the time it helped me sort out the way I felt about the over-glamorized, seductive portrayal of such a classic book. But reading this review with The Wolf of Wall Street in mind, it actually helps me make sense of this book as well. In the quote below, just one of many that stood out to me, the writer could have easily been talking about Jordan Belfort, or even Tom Ripley or Frank Abagnale Jr., any of our characters obsessed with fantasies and aware of people's willingness to believe in them.

"Fitzgerald understood the pleasure of giving in, and he saw people as desperate to give in to nearly anything -- a drink, a person, a story, a feeling, a song, a crowd, an idea. We were especially willing, he thought, to give in to ideas -- to fantasies. "Gatsby" captures, with great vividness, the push and pull of illusion and self-delusion; the danger and thrill of forgetting, lying and fantasizing; the hazards and the indispensability of dreaming and idealization."

Democratizing the Polygraph

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/innovations/wp/2014/10/31/what-happens-when-your-friends-smartphone-can-tell-that-youre-lying/


Essentially, this Washington Post article discusses the role modern-day technology e.g. smartphones will play on lying. I thought it was very interesting in terms of the course. Many of the texts and novels we have dealt with include some form of someone being duped by another. Basically, with everyone nowadays having a smartphone, will it mean the end of lying in daily life? Ways of accomplishing this are mentioned in the article such as an app (that is available now) that can measure the emotion of another just via voice, but also new technologies that are emerging to track emotions and honesty from facial expressions. Thus, ultimately the polygraph will become democratized since everyone will have access to one in their pockets.


So I wonder whether the supposed benefits from such a move e.g. more scrutiny for our publically elected officials will outweigh the supposed cons where lying is nearly impossible in our day to day lives. I definitely think it would be an interesting and very beneficial result for people to have better ability to judge the honesty and sincerity of their politicians. But of course, politicians would likely be the first to find ways around such tools of accountability.


But are there other dangers and/or benefits in technologies being instantly able to catch a liar? Thoughts?

The Descent of Man - Kevin Desinger

In class we've been talking a lot about whether there is a constant identity and what our propensity for violence is. Mainly, it seems as if the most prevalent identity we assume is revealed once the threshold for violence is passed. In one of my favorite books, The Descent of Man by Kevin Desinger, Jim Sandusky is presented with this exact dilemma. Such a surprisingly good book considering it was a random pick off of the shelves of the Berkeley Public Library last summer. Waking up in the middle of the night, Jim discovers two men trying to steal his car. A normal man living a quiet life, Jim surprises his wife and himself as he heads downstairs to get the license number of the thieves' car. All of a sudden, something snaps within him and he steals the thieves' car instead. From there Jim is sent into a downward spiral, caught up in the lives of the conniving brothers, lying to the police, and finding himself unable to sleep, except in the red light district of town.

One of the amazing aspects of this book is how normal Jim appears initially. The book starts with the crime, so there is no surprise later on in the novel about what made him snap. It brings up the question of how easily are we influenced by our instincts and whether we become liars by simply following them. Natural curiosity and an overwhelming desire to protect what he loves drags Jim deeper down towards a journey of discovery. How quickly can man devolve? What is it like to live in a society that won't help you in your ambitions? What can save you when you commit your first, second, third, and continuous crimes? How can any one of us avoid the pit, or is living a life of deceit more exciting than the one we previously knew?

Jim's life tells the extraordinary story of an ordinary man caught up in a bad moment. Whether he would have shifted now as he did or later in life is unknown, but the fact that he did raises all of these questions for us. A gripping story about how one event can change everyday life gives us insight into all the little aspects of life, to which we must ask the burning question, "What would you do?"

Read summaries and reviews about the book below:

http://www.oregonlive.com/books/index.ssf/2011/04/the_descent_of_man_review_with.html

http://www.thelitwitch.com/book-review-the-descent-of-man-by-kevin-desinger/

Your Identity Being the Reason Why You Lie More?

"Yes, bankers lie more than the rest of us. Wall Street reforms aren’t likely to change that culture."

Apparently bankers lie more when they consciously think of themselves as bankers. Nature did a study that focused on whether people who thought of themselves as bankers cheated/lied more than when they had their "non-professional hats" on.

We talk a lot about identity, and a lot of times we discussed the absence of identity playing a role in our characters' motivation to lie. But here we see that because they think they're a banker, they automatically begin to lie more.

What I found more interesting, however, was Washington Post giving the suggestion that people shouldn't think of themselves as bankers, but maybe as "hosts" or "advisors." Is the solution to end lies to strip someone of an identity? When you're a banker, shouldn't you consider yourself a banker?

I wish it wasn't three in the morning so I could actually analyze the impact labels apparently have on how much you lie and cheat — maybe you all can do that instead. I also thought this could be a relevant transition to TWWS.

Have a safe and happy break!

How to Tell if Someone is Lying

How to Tell if Someone is Lying, by Maria Konnikova, The New Yorker

Konnikova discusses ties in the research of lies with the infanticide of Karissa Boudreau.

The REAL Most Dangerous Game... (Players Gonna Play)

I found this article on facebook about Julian Blanc who was denied a visa on the grounds of sexism.  Appparent he teaches courses for men on how to get women in bed, and charges a lot of money for it.  He also started this hastag #chockinggirlsaroundtheworld on Twitter.  This guy calls himself a pick up artist and teaches other men how to be the same way... how to play "The Game" and get laid.  Blanc shares similar attributes to con-artists we've read but he's targeting primarily women.  

Here's a link to the article I read:

http://www.businessinsider.com/the-most-hated-man-in-the-world-2014-11

This article also lead me to think about "The Game," which is a REAL thing in our society.  I know many of my male friends openly admit to reading articles / websites / books promoting this type of behavior toward women.  Everyone of them has excused this behavior by saying this is part of the hook-up culture, esp. in college, and they're not doing it maliciously.  They say things like "it's not bad to be well informed" etc.  I used to think that "playing the Game" is a form of lying and dishonesty, but after thinking about it I also realized that this behavior comes naturally to some people.  Would it be bad to capitalize on these talents?  Motivational speakers do something similar and charge good money for it.  Besides, it's like T-Swift says "love is a game/ wanna play?" (reference Blank Space from her latest album 1989) Love and dating is already a GAME that we play with one another.  Is it so bad that he's teaching men how to play things to their favor?  Could dating itself be a lying-game since we tend to hide our true selves from our partners during those few first impressions? 

Also I love this skit on dating by Louis C.K  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msvU3Srx2J8

Namaste!  Hope everyone enjoys their break!!

Annie's Post: Catch Liars by Redirecting Their Misdirection

Catch Liars by Redirecting Their Misdirection

Lies often come in the form of misdirection, or more specifically a long-worded answer to a yes or no question that's meant to direct you away from the truth. Here's how it works and how to beat it.

Dr. John R. Schafer, over at Psychology Today, is back with another tip for detecting and countering liars. (Last week he shared what Well... tends to reveal.) This time around, we're off to the Land of Is:

If You Begin a Sentence with Well, There's a Good Chance You're Lying

If you think someone's lying, you can't really subject them to a polygraph test. But, it…

Read more

Yes or No questions deserve "Yes" or "No" answers. When people choose not to answer "Yes" or "No," they go to the Land of Is. The Land of Is occupies the space between truth and deception. This murky area contains a labyrinth of half-truths, excuses, and suppositions.

The way one enters that "murky area" is by answering a "yes" or "no" question with a roundabout answer that's meant to misdirect. Here's an example:

You: Adam, does this hard drive full of circus clown pornography belong to you?

Me: Why would I save all that circus clown pornography on a hard drive when I can just get it online?

The idea of the misdirection is to create doubt in the person asking the question. The idea is to get the asker to assume they were silly for asking in the first place, because obviously it was a poor assumption to make. In these situations, however, the doubt the asker should have is whether or not the responder is being truthful. Schafer suggests redirecting the misdirection to get things back on track. In our example, you might say something like this:

You: I don't know why you would or would not save all those unsettling photos and videos of circus clowns in unusually compromising yet strangely erotic positions. That's not what I asked. I asked if the hard drive containing the pornography belongs to you.

Me: Yes it does.

You: Can I, uh...borrow it?

Me: Sure.

In the end, it works out for everyone. But seriously, there are two big takeaways here. First, if you want to detect a liar you should ask them a yes or no question. Second, if the person answering the question doesn't respond with a yes or no answer and instead tries to misdirect, remind them of what you asked. Whether they choose to lie or not, you'll probably know either way.

Poor Man's Polygraph: Part 2 [Psychology Today]

Lying and Children's Literature

http://www.the-looking-glass.net/index.php/tlg/article/view/189/188

Hi all. I teach a DeCal on children's literature, and in the class we often examine the moral purposes of various children's books. Lying is an example of one moral issue that fosters debate and controversy as to how to how to present it to children in the most effective way. What particularly interests me is the modes by which children learn to lie, or whether it could possibly be an inherent quality. This interesting articles discusses examples of lying in popular children's literature, and what it teaches children about lying, which is not always simply "do not lie." The article also discusses how, and why, children begin lying. Hope you all enjoy!

MADHOUSE - Anthrax (1986)

I find this song (more specifically the excerpt below) as particularly relevant to our discussion on Wednesday regarding the Minuet-turned-Madhouse. I'm having a hard time articulating it, but the very deliberate movement of the song is almost representative of the minuet, while the words express the insanity of the situation, in a sort of odd fusion of both in one instance (sort of how incongruent the music felt during the first part of the film in relation to the narrative track).

Enjoy (bang your head)!

My fears behind me, what can I do
My dreams haunt my sleep at night
Oh no, won't learn their lesson, white fills my eyes
And only then they see the light

Trapped in this nightmare, I wish I'd wake
And my whole life begins to shake
Four walls surround me, an empty gaze
I can't find my way out of this maze

And I don't care, fall in, fall out
Gone without a doubt, help me
I can't take the blame
I don't feel the shame

'Cause it's a madhouse
Or so they claim
It's a madhouse
I am insane?

This American Life: Secret Identity

The title itself is enough to relate to our class, but in this podcast, NPR's hosts speak with several  people living secret identities – from the young girl who is the mascot of her high school to the voice behind the Paul Bunyan statue at Trees of Mystery and the character Frank of a new movie who hides behind a facial mask even as he climbs the ranks of becoming a musician.

Listen here

The Artist & Her Alter-Ego

Lynn Hershman-Leeson is a contemporary artist who created an alter ego persona, Roberta Breitmore, in order to explore themes of "gender, identity politics, and selfhood." 

"From 1974 until 1978, the artist conceived of, constructed and ‘developed’ a fictional persona and alter ego: that of Roberta Breitmore. The creation of Roberta Breitmore consisted not only of a physical self-transformation through make-up, clothing, and wigs which enabled the occasional role-playing, but a fully-fledged, ‘complete’ personality who existed over an extended period of time and whose existence could be proven in the world through physical evidence: from a driver’s license and credit card to letters from her psychiatrist."


The artist didn't just imagine an alter-ego, but actualized this person through small details such as dental records, credit cards, an apartment, and a drivers license. She wrote an ad seeking a roommate, and all of the people who responded became a part of the actualizing of this figure. In that way, she reminds us that we become who we are only because of and through others. 

She also created a diagram of body language to assist herself, and document her artistry, which reminds me of how Tom Ripley used body language as his method of identity enactment. 

The entire project is described here: http://www.lynnhershman.com/files/lynnhershman-robertabreitmore.pdf

Fruit Chan's Dumplings

I don't know how many of you are interested in Hong Kong films, but...

I recently came across Dumplings, a horror film by Hong Kong director Fruit Chan. It's pretty morbid and touches upon a sensitive subject (literally, eating fetuses, though the clip doesn't blatantly show it), so watch the trailer at your own discretion! The protagonist of the movie is a former actress named Mrs. Li who eats special dumplings in order to regain her youth. I thought the desire for beauty and youth was interesting, something we haven't really discussed in class.

Anyway, the film raised interesting points about how capitalism is embodied. Dumplings weaves in the issues of deception and identity while bringing to light other topics like gender and globalization.