interdepartmental honors

SUMMARY:

In both of the articles, The Myth That Will Not Go Away and Did Mozart Use the Golden Section? is based on myths of ancient civilizations, mostly Greek and of a famous composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart using the Golden Ratio (GR) in their works. Keith Devlin, writer of The Myth That Will Not Go Away explained mathematicians’ claim of Greeks using the GR to make the Parthenon was a myth, because no one can prove that the Greeks actually used the formula to create such a beautiful building. Furthermore, when squares were drawn in during a demonstration to support the theory that the Greeks were in questioned, “why put it exactly there and why make the lines so thick?” (Devlin, Here We Go Again, 11 lines down) Devlin also went on explaining how Mozart was thought to use GR in his piano sonatas even though no proof was shown that he did. In Did Mozart Use the Golden Section? one mathematician questioned the idea of Mozart using the GR in his sonatas. John F. Putz spent time examining each of Mozart’s sonatas discovering some that did fit into the GR but, some did not. Therefore, he concluded that Mozart may have been interested in math and his sonatas were amazing but, it was not the work of the GR that made it wonderful it was done by the work of a genius.

RESPONSE:

At first, I didn’t really know what the Golden Ratio was for all I knew was that it was a formula used in math (ugh). After reading both articles, I learned that the GR was a formula used to measure length and width. I didn’t really understand why there was such a big controversy about people (who are dead a long time ago) using or not using GR in their masterpieces. It is just a myth! Moreover, the Greeks and Egyptians were civilizations overflowing with brilliant minds, they could have used other formulas. I believe it was just a coincidence that some of the measurements seem to fit. As for Mozart, the man wrote symphonies when he was like what nine? The man was practically a genius! It couldn’t all just be math’s doing, sure he may have used math to improve the sound of his music but, I personally believe it was straight up talent. It’s fun to see people debate over things like music and math but when you put radicals among those people that’s when people need to stop arguing and leave things alone.

Summary:

Liking What You See is a documentary on calliagnosia and people’s view on adopting calliagnosia (calli) or the inability to perceive a face as beautiful or ugly. Some people believe that everyone should adopt calli because discrimination against unattractive people would decrease and people’s self-esteem would gradually rise and people would accept their and others appearances. If more people had calli, then people with scars, blemishes, or anything that deforms the face or makes it unattractive would not be ostracize as much as before. Furthermore, people like Tamera’s (a girl with calliagnosia) parents believed that calli helps children focus more on their abilities than what their appearance can do for them. Moreover, people believe that having calli at an early age would prepare children to face the ‘outside world’ when their adults without calli than when they are without calli from the start and having to face discrimination.

Some people argue that calli is bad, because a person could no longer identify a person as attractive or not or has the potential for producing a better offspring. Tamera, who previously had calli, discovers what an attractive face was and what was not, then finds she not really standing out as pretty or ugly range but the average or middle range. But, as she was starts to get used to it, she finds that she was beautiful and became ecstatic. Other people like Jeffery Winthrop claims that calli was bad because it causes people to not actually see beauty and having it would not really help people. Moreover, Winthrop said that maturity is what stops discrimination not calli, and with calli a person really cannot make their own decision because they are incapable of differentiating pretty from ugly.

Response:

I agree with the idea of adopting calliagnosia, it would actually help everyone, because not everyone is perfect, no one is the ideal human being. Everyone has flaws and everyone judges one another not only by character but, if not most, by appearance. If everyone had calli, no one would be prejudice and there would not be as much discrimination as before. Sure, most current runway models would not have jobs anymore because just about anyone could take up the job but, it would help create a healthier environment where everyone was actually equal when it comes to facial features. Personally, I believe that with calli teen suicide rates would drop a couple of percentages because most teens really focus on their physical appearances. They care about what people say about them, especially about the way they look. Calli would change that and teenagers would focus on other things besides their appearance or what is the new “in” thing that would make a big fashion statement, like they could focus on homework more or sports or other activities. Calli would make being ugly and ostracized would no longer a problem, being left out from the “in” group would no longer occur, and no kid would be left as the unpicked kid just for his or her blemishes or unattractive face. But, please take notice that it is best not to turn off calli, because turning it off means reviving discrimination.