Does humankind posses a tragic flaw? This is a question that may be impossible to solve. There are thousands of ways to spin it, hundreds of answers between “yes” and “no”, and an endless amount of evidence to consider. We may, however, come close to a conclusion, but there are other questions to be answered first. What makes us human? When I think about technology and the advancement of artificial intelligence, I hold on tightily to the distinction between human and robot.Often, if you ask someone what seperates man from machine, you’ll get an answer that has something to do with emotions. Is that our fatal flaw? Obviously not. We need things like fear and our apprehensive nature to keep us from danger. We need happiness and the illusion of freedom to keep our economy afloat. But some more complex emotions, things we all have but still hold stigmas, those are what truly separate us from machines. Hubris, self-absorption, greed, ignorance and bias. These are what truly make us human. And that’s what brings me to my first theory. S.L. Theory #1: The Oedipus Complex Tragic Flaws are, or at least were initially, a Greek concept. They are defined as “A fatal flaw leading to the downfall of a tragic hero or heroine.” The word for this is Hamartia. Hamartia is a shared meaning of fate, flaw, and their synthesis. Hamartia is often depicted in Greek literature. A good example of this would be Oedipus. Many know the story of Oedipus. A man who is fated to sleep with his mother and kill his father, but denies his fate. Like many greek plays, his fate eventually catches up to him. His flaw is hubris, as he overestimates himself and believes that he can oppose fate. Oedipus’ story actually lays the groundwork for a very notable theory by Sigmund Freud. Freud describes something called the Oedipus Complex, which he claims to be universally present in every child. Freud theorizes that every child grows to feel attraction to one parent, and resent the other. This is Oedipus’ fate, as it is ours, which we may never elude. Because the concept of Hamartia is fate determined by flaw, we can conclude that because we share his fate, we also share his flaws. S.L Theory #2: Societal EncouragementThere is also reinforcement of tragic flaw from other culturally significant stories. Ayn Rand’s novel Atlas Shrugged encourages her ideology of Objectivism, which is “the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute." Obviously, one can identify flaws such as hubris, vanity, and selfishness in this statement. Still, this ideology is actually promoted by The United States’ Speaker of the House Paul Ryan. Other significant figures that support objectivism are Ron Paul, Rand Paul, former congressman Bob Barr, and the Israeli Minister of Justice Ayelet Shaked. Atlas Shrugged is one of many influential novels that inhabit tragic flaws. Objectivism, however, is a stellar example of something that advocates for a hamartic flaw (even if that is not the intent). In stories like Oedipus, we are warned that our pride and anger can be dangerous things, and that ignoring fate can lead to our downfall. Hamartia is still present in current media, but there are more and more people advocating for these flaws. S.L. Ignorance as a Tragic FlawI believe if humans had to have just one tragic flaw, it would be ignorance because no level of ignorance is good. Other things that people consider tragic flaws, like hubris for example, are healthy to some extent. It’s good for your mental health to have some pride. It’s different with ignorance, even a little can affect you negatively, and if it doesn’t affect you it affects someone else. When people think about ignorance it is often thought of at a large scale like segregation era racism, or current events like the white supremacist march in Charlottesville. The large amount of ignorant hatred is so clear in these events it’s easy to separate yourself from their ignorance, but even our small scale ignorance still leads to our downfall. An example of this is with health, smokers know that smoking is unhealthy but many ignore that and continue anyway. They will eventually die of lung cancer, therefore their ignorance leads to their downfall. I bet everyone can think of something that they do that is ignorant because we all have a tragic flaw. I.M. The art piece we created combines the visuals from our 3 paragraphs. The figure at the top is Oedipus. He is standing at the top of a staircase that represents how hubris makes you feel above everyone else. Oedipus is also smoking a cigarette which represents ignorance. I.M. Sources Cited“Hubris Examples and Definition.” Literary Devices, 30 Oct. 2015,
www.literarydevices.com/hubris/. Accessed 22 Aug. 2017 Kunst, Jennifer. “Is Ignorance Bliss?” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, 24 Aug. 2011, www.psychologytoday.com/blog/headshrinkers-guide-the-galaxy/201108/is-ignorance-bliss. Accessed 23 Aug. 2017 “Tragedy, Fate, and Hamartia.” Tragedy, www.webpages.uidaho.edu/engl257/Classical/hamartia.htm. Accessed 23 Aug. 2017. “Is Selfishness Promoted in Society?” Awaken, 15 Feb. 2013, www.awaken.com/2013/02/is-this-the-right-model-for-a-great-nation/. Accessed 23 Aug. 2017. “Oedipus complex.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., 20 July 1998, www.britannica.com/topic/Oedipus-complex. Accessed 23 Aug. 2017. “List of people influenced by Ayn Rand.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 21 Aug. 2017, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_influenced_by_Ayn_Rand. Accessed 23 Aug. 2017. “What is Objectivism?” The Atlas Society, 14 June 2010, atlassociety.org/objectivism/atlas-university/what-is-objectivism/objectivism-101-blog/3366-what-is-objectivism. Accessed 23 Aug. 2017.
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AuthorI'm Sabrina, a student at New Tech High. Archives
April 2019
CategoriesAll After Affects Biology Digital Media Environmental Oceanography Personal Research Tutorial |