Feb 16, 2014 6:18 PM
A Closed Box Puzzle: Arguing Anime
Anime Relations:
Kino no Tabi: The Beautiful World
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Kino: How blue the sky often changes depending on the place, time, season, and weather. And everyone of them is beautiful. I can't tell you which one is the real blue sky among the skies I've seen. There is no such thing. That is what I think.
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Kino: How blue the sky often changes depending on the place, time, season, and weather. And everyone of them is beautiful. I can't tell you which one is the real blue sky among the skies I've seen. There is no such thing. That is what I think.
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Think of a box. You can't see inside, but you have been able to narrow down the possibilities of what could be inside to two things: an absolute truth, or nothing at all. What is inside? We may never know. The only way to know is to open the box, but inside that box is the Truth of the world. It is the absolute, ascended capital "T" Truth. However, if an absolute truth exists, then why bother arguing? In the same vain, if there is no such thing as an absolute truth, then why bother arguing? The most controversial arguments in the world, in my mind, revolve around this ideal, where there is a futile pursuit of an absolute Truth; some sort of generalization to apply to every scenario. However, human dialogue can only accomplish so much, and attaining absolute Truth may be impossible. This is, however, the reason I find human dialogue so complex and full of possibilities. It may not allow for a generalization, but it surely allows for flexibility. Perhaps it is due to the ever-changing nature of humans. We're fickle creatures that are capable of changing our train of thought on the fly, but at least that makes us predictable.
We'll try to find trends. We'll try to find consistencies, both in the surrounding world and in our own world. It's all for the sake of dialogue, in order to find a language for us all to understand. Uncertainty invites exploration, while discovery marks the end of exploration. Perhaps it's better for us to never discover Truth, for there's nothing beyond discovery. It becomes a book, read from cover to cover. One can always reread the book to find hidden content, but the ending has already been reached. It would merely be retracing one's own steps in an endless circle. Yet, in that cyclical journey lies dialogue. What awaits is shared understanding. So, let's continue guessing at what's inside that closed box. Perhaps inside is knowledge that will unleash horrors upon the world, or perhaps it will be nothing of consequence.
With regards to anime, we can continue trying to find absolutes: the perfect way to craft an anime, the perfect combination of elements, an all-star cast or the perfect tone. It's all in vain, and it's very possible that it's all for naught. Or, we may find an absolute truth, and thus there becomes a correct method of crafting anime. What may come would be an utter bore, for once a "correct" way has been found, exploration ends and there is no more need for experimentation. The death of creativity. The death of the medium.
Thus, let it continue, the endless banter. All the travesties and idiocies brought about by those who create and those who discuss will further develop anime. It's painful and absurd, but it pays off once the images come to life. Much like a beautiful painting, born of messy, shapeless pigments within a shoddy studio. The glory and wonders brought about every blue moon will affirm the potential of the medium and further our thirst for more. The ends of these developments are unknown, perhaps even non-existent. My only warning: do not get trapped in opinion. Yes, everyone is unique in thought and thus have unique opinions. No opinion is inherently good or bad, but the judgement of that lies in the hands of peers. The community as a whole decides what good and bad is. We may lock ourselves in our own world and call our own opinions just. In our own worlds, our truths become Truth. Yet, that has no bearing on the world as a whole, and the opinion becomes lost in the void.
Discuss and be proven wrong. Learn and teach. Discover the opinions of others and build on your own. The world of anime is vast, just as any other creative medium. Go forth and find truth. It matters not what the box contains. Instead, question the box's very existence with all the curiosity of the explorers of yore.
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tl;dr - Arguments are nice when they are productive. Opinions are destructive when they cannot be changed or proven wrong. Discussion and creation are what drive this world of people. Thus, it is what drives anime as well. At least, that is what this anime fan believes.
Posted by
Shocked
| Feb 16, 2014 6:18 PM |
1 comments
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Shocked | Mar 2, 2014 7:25 PM
I thank you for your thoughts, I'm glad to get such in-depth feedback. I must admit, this blog post is definitely one of my less concrete ones, where I more so looked into the overlying layer of argumentation through my own perspective. "What exactly are you saying here? What are you advising in the applicable reality? It seems you're just making a bunch of points without offering actual substance. What difference does opening the box make in your analogy? Do you advise that to hypothetically attain absolute truth would result in an end to goals or discovery of living?" In exploration, you'd look for answers to a question, or perhaps you'd look for questions to answer. Once the goal has been met, the exploration will end and a new one will begin. The pursuit of knowledge, as I see it, is cyclical like that, and it's possible for one to forget the original reason for exploration. It just becomes an endless search for questions and answers, always looking for the "what" and "how" and forgetting about the "why." I'm advising that in argumentation and debates, the end result isn't so much important as the process. With the box analogy, it would someone like reading a summary to an anime without watching it, just to say they know what the anime is about. Yeah, they'd know what the show's about, but it robs them of the experience of watching it. In that case, that person shouldn't care about who lives/dies, the end of the romance, the end of the journey, or the solution to a mystery, just watch it and enjoy the experience. "Isn't that a bit redundant/obvious?" That was a tl;dr version of my post, but I see how it can be interpreted as a circular argument of the sort. Yes, it's obvious, but I seldom see arguments nowadays that are actually productive, both on the internet and in real life. Unless I'm looking in the wrong places anyways. "It is logically impossible to have an absolute "correct" way to make anime which would in turn, render experimentation useless. Anime is subjective in nature and it's value is in the eyes of the beholder." And yet, there are some anime that are better than others. No matter how much anime is "in the eyes of the beholder," no sane, unironic, person could honestly say that Mars of Destruction is the best anime ever made and be honest about it. Also, saying that anime's value is "in the eyes of the beholder" takes some caution. Yes, there are as many opinions as there are people in existence throughout time, but in doing so makes it hard to argue. Say, if you were to have an extended argument with someone, only for them to say "oh, well, it's just my opinion." That completely shuts down the argument and makes the whole thing pointless, and that helps no one. "The main thing I advise for you is clarity. I had these statements because your thoughts weren't conveyed simply or clearly enough. I could very much have misinterpreted what you wrote, but that is likely your fault. Focus on thinking about the very basic form on what you want to say, and don't bother adding more analogies and illustrations than need be. Keep your thoughts simple and easy to interpret. That is the sign of a great writer." Yeah, I realize now how "touchy feely" this post was, and it's something I'm definitely going to work on over time. It's fun to try and paint colorful imagery with purple prose, but that's only a mental image in my mind. It's difficult to recreate that image in the mind of others, so using more concrete explanations would more than likely help in clarifying my ideas. "It is saying that things cannot be proven to be true, or real. For example, the world and everything around you could be a fabrication of your imagination. There is no way of knowing for sure." Also, I find it extremely cool how there can be multiple interpretations of a statement explaining the multiple interpretation of skies. It's moments like these that keeps me writing and interpreting things. "Regardless, I can find beauty in things... and THAT is true." Yup, absolutely. |
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Harmonium94 | Mar 1, 2014 12:40 AM
My criticism (I'm being harsh but with intentions of helping):Some of your points seem a bit messy. "Uncertainty invites exploration, while discovery marks the end of exploration. Perhaps it's better for us to never discover Truth, for there's nothing beyond discovery. It becomes a book, read from cover to cover. One can always reread the book to find hidden content, but the ending has already been reached. It would merely be retracing one's own steps in an endless circle. Yet, in that cyclical journey lies dialogue. What awaits is shared understanding. So, let's continue guessing at what's inside that closed box. Perhaps inside is knowledge that will unleash horrors upon the world, or perhaps it will be nothing of consequence." What exactly are you saying here? What are you advising in the applicable reality? It seems you're just making a bunch of points without offering actual substance. What difference does opening the box make in your analogy? Do you advise that to hypothetically attain absolute truth would result in an end to goals or discovery of living? "Arguments are nice when they are productive." Isn't that a bit redundant/obvious? "With regards to anime, we can continue trying to find absolutes: the perfect way to craft an anime, the perfect combination of elements, an all-star cast or the perfect tone. It's all in vain, and it's very possible that it's all for naught. Or, we may find an absolute, and thus there becomes a correct method of crafting anime. What may come would be an utter bore, for once a "correct" way has been found, exploration ends and there is no more need for experimentation. The death of creativity. The death of the medium." It is logically impossible to have an absolute "correct" way to make anime which would in turn, render experimentation useless. Anime is subjective in nature and it's value is in the eyes of the beholder. The main thing I advise for you is clarity. I had these statements because your thoughts weren't conveyed simply or clearly enough. I could very much have misinterpreted what you wrote, but that is likely your fault. Focus on thinking about the very basic form on what you want to say, and don't bother adding more analogies and illustrations than need be. Keep your thoughts simple and easy to interpret. That is the sign of a great writer. I also have my own little thought about the quote from kino's journey: "How blue the sky often changes depending on the place, time, season, and weather." .... "I can't tell you which one is the real blue sky among the skies I've seen. There is no such thing. That is what I think." It is saying that things cannot be proven to be true, or real. For example, the world and everything around you could be a fabrication of your imagination. There is no way of knowing for sure. "And everyone of them is beautiful." Regardless, I can find beauty in things... and THAT is true. |