Bewilderment

Bewilderment to me means the lack of knowledge or certainty which leads to curiosity and new ideas. To not understand something but to go above and beyond to find out what it means because it's intriguing to you. I think Edward Abbey in The Serpents of Paradise, did an excellent job of showing us the audience the desire he had with the gopher snakes with the intense details and interest he took in them. His perception of the snakes makes the reader feel like we are there with him and we can picture the snakes doing their dance and him being down on the ground with the snakes. Even as his job being a park ranger, he doesn't know everything about all the animals but he knows he should stay away from them but he can't. That what bewilderment is, the curiosity of not understanding something that just leaves you in Awe. We need bewilderment in our lives because it makes us find the answers to our problems. If we always knew everything then we wouldn't constantly be learning and finding out new things. Furthermore, in Bewilderment by Fanny Howe, this complex essay really makes you think of how bewilderment is in everything whether it be politics, poetics, nature, language etc... He manages to bring anything and everything into the concept of bewilderment. He uses phrases or words such as "sudden confrontation" (5), "unlocatable and hidden" (6), and "bewilderment is an enchantment that follows a complete collapse of reference and reconcilability" (15) that gives us more or less what bewilderment is to him. Howe is pretty spot on about his definition of bewilderment and how he connects it to stories, poems and politics. I think certainty is necessary is our lives because something things need to be known and we need to be certain of like the president, the color of the sky or our age. Having no knowledge of ourselves or information would result in us always being lost and never found. If we aren't certain of some things then we would be a disoriented society.

Bewilderment

Bewilderment, a state of uncertain actions for which the cause is not known. It is the product of being uncertain or having a lack of certainty. It is important to not lack this certainty, because if we don't we'll come to regret it later. It doesn't allways have to be a life or death situation like with Edward Abbey in the Serpents of Paradise. It could also be something as simple responding to somebody in the right way. Although not being certain may not cost us our lifes you could lose an opportunity or a relationship so it is important to be certain in all of your decisons because nothing in life is as troubling as regret.

But bewilderment can also be the thing we need to increase our artisic creativity and spark the amazement in our lives that give is hope.

Bewilderment and Certainty
After reading the story "Bewilderment" author Fanny Howe states that "bewilderment is an enchantment that follows the collapse of reference and reconcilability" or in simpler terms the dictionary version "to cause to lose one's sense of where one is." Bewilderment to me, is a state of being confused, or unsure about what is happening in various presented situations. Bewilderment, although seeming a bit frightening, is needed in our lives because if everything was known, exact, identical etc. the world would not be the place it is now, no human would live the same life they are currently living, everything would be permanent and unchangeable. On the other hand, I believe certainty is needed throughout life because without the constant and assuredness that certainty provides our lives would be chaotic and in a state of confusion or "bewilderment" all the time.
Certainty provides security in knowing what is to be or what is to come, it allows us to either enjoy what we know is going to happen or accept the things we cannot change. An example of this could be, in the novel "The Serpents Of Paradise" the author Edward Abbey talks about his first encounter with the snake on his porch, and the thought process and emotions he felt during this experience. He says that he is certain that he cannot kill he snake due to morals, yet also he is in a state of bewilderment as to how he will get the snake to leave his porch or what the snake may do to him if he doesn't kill it, proving that both bewilderment and certainty needed in this situation, without either one he would not have been able to have shared this experience with his readers. On that context, bewilderment and uncertainty are needed in balance because with too much of one, life would either be chaos and confusion or unchangeable and mundane.

bewilderment

I think bewilderment means when objects or conditions are in a confused maze or tangled state. I really don't think we need bewilderment in our lives. we can do with out it. It really doesn't happen that too often. In The Serpents of Paradise , Edward Abbey talks about when he was up close on the snake when they were doing there ritual. The male and female gopher snake were intertwining and they were winding and unwinding. Then the snakes seen Edward following them and then they and turn and go after him with there forked tongue's flickering. Edward was paralyzed by wonder, then he came back to his sense and rose back to his knees. This was a bewilderment state because Edward Abbey was in a confused state when the snakes were coming at him. Most people would have been running and screaming away.

Certainty is necessary in our lives because certainty gives you that confidence. In The Serpents of Paradise , Edward Abbey talks about when he caught the gopher snake and he released it in his trailer house for a few days. He let the gopher snake hunt and kill all the mice that were in his house. Then
he went for a walk and he had the gopher snake wrapped around his wrist and waist inside of his button up shirt. And then Edward would leave some of the buttons open so the snake can peak out and look around. Edward Abbey had to be certain that the gopher snake didn't try to attack him. Edward and gopher snake had to have a good bond.

Bewilderment

From reading the two text, a particular term of being "Bewilderment" is going through a process where you are in a state of confusion in a given situation. It can be anything because in "Bewilderment" Howe talks about how the Muslim prayer uses the word "Lord" in their prayer and how it relates to him/her as well because Christians use the same word when they are praying too. That title itself is representative and respectful, so when other religions use this word, you're puzzled as to why they are using the same term as your religion, but yet they practice their religion differently from yours. We all do this and think this whenever we encounter people. Also, we got in that stage when they said the world was coming to an end as people were all confused to how the world could coming to an end due to the Mayans calendar. We need certainty so the world wouldn't be in chaos. Assurance guarantees us a certain outcome and for us to adapt to that situation. Like when the news reporter tells us that there is an 85% chance that it'll rain and we receive that information and become prepared for the outcome by wearing a raincoat or carrying an umbrella, so we won't get rained on. It just gives us time to prepare that something is sure to happen and Bewilderment is necessary because it just makes us curious and wants to find answers to the solution.

I feel as though bewilderment is a state of confusion or uncertainty that causes us as people to question reality. Although bewilderment does cause us to question our realities, it is necessary for people to have a sense of certainty in this world. We need certainty in our lives to keep ourselves sane and to allow us to know something is absolutely true. For example, we know for certain that we need we need  oxygen to live and breath. Without this certainty, our imagination or rather our bewilderment takes over and we come up without various excuses and wild theories about why we can still breath or we even question what it is to breath. Certainty provides this buffer for us to keep ourselves from losing a grasp on reality. Bewilderment is also necessary for the human mind to have. In the essay "Bewilderment" by Fanny Howe, one of the things she talks about the concept of God and the bewilderment and disbelief that surrounds the bible. People question if God is real or not, and those that do believe Him to be real are filled with a bewilderment of sorts, that people say questions logic and fact. But the point here is that it is the bewilderment that surrounds God  brought so many people to God in the first place because that very same bewilderment provided people with a sense of hope and understanding showing just how important and influential one's bewilderment can be.

Certainty and Bewilderment (Team Phoenix) 

After Reading these two essays I created a definition of my own towards Bewilderment and also discovered this definition through many perspectives. Bewilderment is a piece between the certain and uncertain a state where you are unable to think clearly and find yourself being puzzled or confused. Fanny Howe author of Bewilderment provides the reader with a multiplicity of definitions and examples from a wide range from grammar, language, poetry, politics etc. of Bewilderment, but in order to truly comprehend the concept one must be open accept all these different perspectives. Bewilderment is necessary because we are surrounded by so many aspects and instances of it, for example she states "they were un able to handle the complexities of the world or the shock of making a difference" (Howe).  it's a sense of mystification that is likely present in so many of our life scenarios. The reference in her essay to Paradise and how we don't know if it's behind or ahead of us. Helped me connect to the second reading "The serpents in Paradise" by Edward Abbey the writing style he uses is just indescribable the amount of details and imagery truly engages his reader his experience with nature comes with the perks of his job. When he narrates the story of the serpent he demonstrates his appreciation towards nature not only by narrating his experience in a snake's perception almost as though he becomes one. It's captivating the certainty to which he uses to control the situation and share his perceptions. In my view Certainty is equally important to that of bewilderment. Certainty comes hand in hand with moral values and obligations, therefor this connects it to every decision in our daily life.

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Bewilderment is a person’s state of consciousness where they aren’t certain of what is going on and they also don’t have clarity of the present moment. In the assigned essay to read, Bewilderment by Fanny Howe where she expressed bewilderment as remaining conscious of situations even when we may be unconscious, like when you’re sleeping. Howe also described bewilderment as some sort of spiral that has “no plain path, no up and down, no inside and outside” and has “strange returns and recognitions and never a conclusion”. Bewilderment is expressed by Howe in her essay as being necessary in our lives because it cures our need for disorder as well as curiosity. A life full of certainty is a life full of bland moments that leave a person completely bored out of their mind.  Bewilderment balances out our need for certainty because it allows every individual to add the element of surprise and excitement to our lives. However, a life full of bewilderment is a life full of chaotic scenarios, stress and broken promises. According to Google, certainty is “incapable of failing” and is being “without a doubt”. This quality is necessary in our lives to allow us to have security blanket and a sense of control. Certainty is our sense of protection against the dangers of bewilderment however it is essential to have both as they create balance in an individual’s life. Having both bewilderment and certainty being a part of your qualities allows an individual to lead a balanced life in which they can take on life’s mysteries with both curiosities and certainty. Living a life with one of those qualities and not the other would lead to chaos, boredom and many finding life to be without purpose, it essential that we have both to live comfortably and happily.

November 21 Blog Post

All of our senses are different from one and other. We all taste, see, and smell differently. However, our sight is the least trustworthy out of the five senses. In the podcast, “Colors,” they talk about the mind playing “tricks” to make us perceive colors differently from others around us. Therefore, our sight is the least trustworthy. Next up would have to be a tie between our taste and hearing. The reason for this is due to the fact that we all have personal opinions for these two senses. Aaron Copland was an American composer and writer. In his short essay “How We Listen,” Copland talks about how not everyone is going to appeal to the same music or sounds as everyone else. Based on our past experiences with music, everyone has developed a favorite and least favorite type of music. Our hearing is least trustworthy, because not everyone will have the same view and opinion of the music being played at the time. The same concept can apply to taste as well, because every person has their own opinion on what they enjoy drinking or eating. Between the last two senses, smell and touch, we find these to be more trustworthy. The reason for this is because our judgements between each of these are quite similar. For example, when smelling a fire or raw sewage. Both are very extreme smells that when compared among common people, can be categorized as the same extreme and disgusting smells. Our sense of touch doesn’t really change with each other either. If something is round in shape and someone touches it, they’re going to say that it’s round, and the same goes for the person next to them. Ultimately, our most trustworthy senses are smell and touch, because they do not rely on our judgement and preferences.

5 senses

Our five senses are vital to our surviving with each playing a very important role for our protection and safety. Having to choose out of my five senses which is the most and the least trustworthy, I would say my sight it the most trustworthy and my smell is the least trustworthy. Sight is the most trustworthy sense that we have because we perceive a lot of thing and the eye can see the beauty in things or the danger that is around whether it be a car accident, fire or a burglary taking place. In the podcast Colors, sight is almost characterized as untrustworthy. Yes us humans have a different view and perspective than those of animals and what we see can lead to false information, but that is not the case all the time. I do believe sight is a trustworthy factor just because we depend on it so much and what we see at least half of the time is true. For the least trustworthy sense, if I had to choose, would be smell. If we lost the ability to smell scent I believe it wouldn’t be bad because we wouldn’t smell bad and foul odors. Though, in losing the ability to smell, we wouldn’t be able to smell ourselves to see if we need to freshen up or not. A teacher I had in the 5th grade lost her sense of smelling scents and as people were smelling the scent of a skunk, she was smelling lemmons. Yes our nose is something that true to what it does, which is smell, but I do think that smell could be least trustworthy.

The five senses and which one to trust

After reading Aaron Copland’s essay “How We Listen”, and listening to the “Colors” podcast, it seems that most of our senses are untrustworthy on their own. The most untrustworthy sense to me is sight. The podcast went into detail on how different animals see things with different color spectrums making it the most perception based sense. So therefore different species can see the same thing as different shades of a color or a different color altogether. It was extremely interesting when they used the choir to sort of represent the spectrum of colors that animals see. Adding lower and higher notes or more middles to show a wider range of color. Incorporating another untrustworthy sense, sound. The images we get from the words about colors plus the added stimulant of sounds and them becoming richer as more color is talked about really help the understanding of the concept. Sound is untrustworthy because, as Copland states in “How We Listen”, we hear or listen on three different plans, and everyone hears differently. The same can go for smell and taste as well. All four of these sense are all just too subjective to each individual to be considered trustworthy enough to convey the point or definition of something. That leaves us with touch. Touch would have to be the most trustworthy of the five senses because it is the hardest to be manipulated. If something is cold, then it will be could to anyone who touches it. The same goes for if something is hot. It relies more on the outside stimulant than the other sense and therefor is more universally similar between individuals. Sight relies on the eyes and their capabilities, smell can be easily manipulated by past memories, taste relies on the taste buds, and, as Copeland said, hearing depends on how the individual is choosing to listen. All more inward dependency but touch depends much more on what is being touched and not who is touching it.