Has anyone read the novel "Cloud Atlas"? The movie (loosely) based on the book is coming out this weekend and in A. O. Scott's review of the film in the NY Times he says:
|Belief in a benevolent cosmic order contends with fidelity to the cruel |Darwinian maxim that “the weak are meat the strong do eat.” My first reaction was, "that's not Darwin because 'survival of the fittest' has nothing to do with whether one is weak or strong but with whether one and one's offspring can adapt to their environment". At best (or worst, depending upon your perspective), such a statement is consistent with a "social darwinist" perspective in which those that have power justify their having power by arguing that by virtue of having power, they are better than others and deserve all good things while the weak are to tolerated if not exploited. However, it also turns out the saying is an old Japanese proverb or saying; see; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_proverbs Quoting: |aku niku kyō shoku |Literally: The weak are meat; the strong eat. |Meaning: Survival of the fittest. So, in the context of the novel "Cloud Atlas", is the saying made as: (a) a statement about Darwinism (b) a statement about Social Darwinism (c) a statement about the existence, Darwin has nothing to with it (d) who knows, its a post-modern novel and coherence, reference, and allusion are side issues relative to more central concerns which the author will reveal in some future novel -- maybe. Personally, I think what Carl in the series "The Walking Dead" says is more profound and meaningful: |"Everything's food for something else." see: http://walkingdead.wikia.com/wiki/Carl_Grimes_%28TV_Series%29 -Mike Palij New York University [email protected] " --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=21320 or send a blank email to leave-21320-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
