Kony 2012

ony 2012 is an online campaign that expanded through internet memes such as, Facebook, Twitter, and overall by popular social networks. This would be an example of Darwin's theory of immitation which explains the replication of memes. This immitation works with simple details such as changing your BBM picture all the way to creating videos on YouTube that get millions of viewers every day. Although people are not aware of the details of the Uganda criminal.The irony of the whole movement is how their stategy was to make a man who leads massacres to kill the civilians, actually famous.

“Niceness Dies a Darwinian Death”

COOPERATE and DEFECT. Those two words may seem insignificant, but when you’re playing for your grades, it’s all that counts.  As Dawkin was able to explain in Chapter 12, “niceness dies a Darwinian death” (202). This tempting strategic game is called Prisoner’s Dilemma, and it may as well have cost me -.5 in my blogs. The rules are short, if both cooperate then both win, and if both defect then both suffer a punishment, but the tricky part is when one decides to betray for even more points by playing defect while the other is left cooperating. Those .5 points are just sitting their tempting both players, and if one player risks the “mutual cooperation”, all hell breaks loose. In my case, as I was playing, I thought about playing cooperation on the first round, but my ambition to earn those extra points took over, and surprisingly my opponent did the same. From there on, there was no trust whatsoever, every time we lost points we were holding a grudge that would eventually doom us by the time we were finished.

If we look at the game theory, there are two types: cooperative and non- cooperative. It focuses on how groups of people interact in an effort to reach their own goals. The question becomes does Prisoner’s Dilemma apply to the animal world? According to Dawkin, of course it does, and not just in animal and human life, but plant life as well. His example in The Selfish Gene was the birds that removed each other ticks from their feathers. IN this activity they are in the same position as I was during class. The bird can have his own ticks removed and then remove the others ticks, but wouldn’t it be easier to trick the bird and fly away tick-free? These decisions are constantly being bombarded towards us, whether to ask for a favor and then return it, or get away with it and throw in a weak excuse.

Just like Daniela Paternina mentioned in her blog, “choices reflect a person’s true nature”. In her argument, she states that we are in a constant struggle against our selfish genes. In other words, we are creators of our own destiny and if we were raised with correct values, no situation is going to alter who we are no matter how strong the temptation. I agree with Daniela, but if only mankind was a model of Darwin’s “nice guy”, then it would be a win-win situation to every individual. Self-interest, ambition, and temptation would no longer be a leading factor in humanities constant battle to survive in the competitive world.

We’re No Different

Interactions between survival machines in the Animal Kingdom usually take place among the same species. Take a ride along the African Safari and you will surely see zebras grazing in herds with zebras, flocks of the same birds migrating, and ant colonies working hard amongst themselves in order to survive. But this is where we are wrong.  Look deeper into the lives of these animals and you will notice Darwin’s idea of reciprocal altruism, “You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours” (166).The selfish gene can benefit on a greater scale if the animal lives within a group, for example a herd. Sure, it is going to mean less food for the individual, but it is willing to risk that if it means a more efficient way of hunting in order to get bigger prey. Still, just as explained in W.D Hamulton’s paper called “Geometry of the Selfish Herd”, the individual participant in a herd is always going to be selfish. For example, when a prey finds himself in the “domain of danger”, he doesn’t plan to be the first one eaten. He wants to survive just as much as the rest do, and when selfishness takes over it becomes every man for himself.

However, there comes a point where Dawkins theory changes into “you scratch my back, I’ll ride on yours”. The cleaner fish has a stripy pattern and special dance that labels them as “good”, so let’s compare this to our own human society. In my school the cleaner fish would probably be that person who’s reputation is seen as useful, a good catch. In the ocean, large fish restrain from eating them and allow the cleaners to access their interior and exterior, but in school, those specific personalities are usually taken advantage of. Certain groups take them temporarily for pure interest, and yet this person doesn’t mind. He or she has been accepted to the group and is willing to stay there as long as the relationship is stable. The pattern continues, the cleaner fish plays an important role in the coral reef, for it becomes a win-win situation. The cleaner fish has its natural habitat intact and the large fish can return repeatedly to the same cleaner instead of finding a new one every time. Once again, it’s the same in the Animal Kingdom as in human nature. For example, let’s focus on a specific type of person; a drug dealer. This dealer roams the streets of New York looking for a way into the business. Finally, the client or “the big fish” approaches him in desperate need of drugs. The dealer now has a weekly income, and the client now has an official dealer who he can trust to get him any substance he needs.

In this chapter I realized just how similar of a nature we have compared to animals. In our competitive world people benefit from the failure of others, just like when a zebra is saved when the tiger attacks the weak member of the herd. We hold grudges, we become selfish, and we manipulate each other in order to get what we want. We tend to live in “herds”, cuddled safely in our communities because we know it comes to a greater advantage to all of us and our probability of “surviving” increases. Still, no matter how many times we try to ignore it, it will always be “you scratch my back, I’ll ride on yours”. 

Selfishness Lies in our Gene

 Personally, Biology is not even close to being one of my favorite subjects, and when the book The Selfish Gene was handed out goose bumps ran down my arms. But then again, Dawkins use of metaphors and allegory did a better job at explaining genetics than my Biology teacher ever did. He does an exceptional job comparing chromosomes to 46 volumes of books, genes to pages, and the nucleolus to book cases. It allowed me to interpret the text by relating those complicated terms to things I encounter on a daily basis. Obviously, it is very different from Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities. When I am reading The Selfish Gene my purpose is not to decode the author’s hidden message towards society, but instead I am applying what I have learned in DNA replication and evolution to understand Dawkin’s concepts. In page 16 Dawkins states: “But let copies made from other copies, which in their turn were made from other copies, and errors will start to become cumulative and serious”. The author never mentions the name of the actual process that is taking place, but as a reader I know he is referring to specific mutations in DNA.

In chapter 3, Immortal Coils, Dawkin explains the reason he decided to name the book The Selfish Gene. How can a gene be actually selfish? It all starts with the definition of the gene, “…it is defined as any portion of chromosomal material that potentially lasts for enough generations to serve as a unit of natural selection”(28). In other words, the gene seeks longevity in the form of copies. It is willing to fight its way through using natural selection, in order to obtain the best traits and characteristics that will ensure the organisms survival. So yes, the gene is in fact selfish, for it looks out only for its self-interest and believes in survival of the fittest. The gene is able to manipulate the body, jumping from one generation to the next, and towards the end when the body is dying, it is already safe and sound in the organism of the offspring. Another example of selfishness comes from the mutator genes. Their job is to copy errors in the rest of the genes in order to wipe out all competition. This specific gene knows that the disadvantage of one gene means an advantage to itself, and it opens the door for it to finally spread through the gene pool. It is hard to think of something so remote and complex like the gene to be actually selfish. I usually relate selfishness to human nature, but I stand corrected by Richard Dawkin’s theory.

The Truth is Revealed

Of course! All the dead cities, the hidden, the trading, the continuous ones are actually just one independent city: Venice. It all makes sense now, the network of canals, the domes, the bridges suspended with tracery balustrades, are all characteristics of Venice. I must accept, Calvino does a flawless at tricking the reader, as well as Kublai Khan, that Beeisheba, Anastasia, Cecilia, and all the other cities are in fact one of the most detailed descriptions of the city in Italy. The image propagated by the young venetian is only skimmed at, the true meaning lied deep under the cities names, until the eager Kublai Khan asks: “On the day when I know all the emblems, shall I be able to possess my empire at last?”. He was blinded by pure ambition to defeat each and every one of the last enemy troops. So much that he was late to realize “there is still one of which you never speak. Venice.”(86).

The emperor was taken by surprise, why did he not start off his story by introducing Venice as it is? Polo’s answer was simple, “Perhaps I am afraid of losing Venice all at once, if I speak of it. Or perhaps, speaking of other cities, I have already lost it, little by little” (87). Marco Polo’s passion is so powerful when it comes to his birthplace that he hesitates in revealing the true essence of Venice all at once. Italo Calvino feels Venice cannot be wasted by lips that speak of the city to the point where it is lost. He cherishes it, and speaking of other cities is the way he can express the images Venice leaves implanted in one's eyes.

Skipping Stones

On page 82 of Invisible Cities, a symbolic lesson of life is portrayed through a bridge. Marco Polo starts to describe a specific bridge stone by stone. Kublai Khan (as well as I) wondered what is so magnificent about this bridge, of each and every rock, which is the grand one? Marco answers: “The bridge is not supported by one stone or another, but by the line of the arch that they form” (82). This clearly leaves Kublai Khan bashful and thoughtful, for the arch is the only thing that matters in his perspective. This is where we are all wrong. In life we tend to focus on the big picture, we discredit those small details that make a true difference in the outcome of anything we know of. In the technological sector of society; Apple, Conoco Phillips, Ford Motors, and other companies stand out as large corporations on a global scale in the worlds market. But who or whom are the people overshadowed by these big names? Are they given any credit for what they have created? In most scenarios the answer is no. Their names are barely mentioned, and yet they are the masterminds behind the millions of dollars the companies produce. This is only one of the many examples where society reacts just like Kublai Khan towards the stones in the bridge. The same idea can be seen later on in the text when the traveler begins to describe the city of Phyllis. He rejoices every window, every kind of pavement embedded in the sidewalks, and the fortress walls. “Happy the man who has Phyllis before his eyes each day and who never ceases seeing the things it contains…” (90), here the traveler is hypnotized by the city itself, so much that he decided to stay. This is when he stops seeing the big picture and notices the rose windows, the statues on corbels, the pantones of sunlight, a bench, a hole that you stumble upon, each on a detailed level.

You start to realize those simple yet meaningful aspects of the city that are what truly make it so peculiar. Acknowledging every route and soon enough every footstep becomes crucial in the understanding of the city. It all comes down to the same message, that “without stones there is no arch.”(82)

Calvino's Decoration of Chapters

As I was reading Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities, I noticed the book is divided in six sections where every page contains Marco Polo’s description of the elements, design, and structure of different cities. At the beginning of every section an introduction between Marco Polo and Kublai Khan is present in order to guide the reader in the setting and situation of the story. After that, chapters with no more than 2 to 3 pages are labeled on the top right corner with names:

·         Cities and Memory

·         Cities and Desire

·         Cities and Signs

·         Thin Cities

·         Trading Cities

·         Cities and Eyes

·         Cities and Names

·         Cities and Dead

·         Cities and the Sky

·         Continuous Cities

·         Hidden Cities

I refused to pay attention to these titles but as I continued to read and analyze the text I noticed there had to be a pattern that characterized each group of cities or city.  I started by guiding myself with the table of contents and finding any similarities in the repetition of names and appearance of new ones. I wrote them on a sheet of paper and started to make a rough draft by jotting down the titles horizontally. I started with Cities and Memory and every time it was named I started a new line. By repeating the process in sections 2-9, I caught on the pattern by which Calvino introduced them.

My final draft looked like this:

In Chapter 1 the titles appeared to the right, every line a new city was mentioned from 1 being Cities and Memory, 2, 3, and Thin Cities 4.

In Chapter 2 it has 5 cities starting with Cities and Memory and at the end in 5, Trading Cities appears. Up until this point the cities are being mentioned in a rightward manner.

From Chapters 3 – 8 now the First cities are out, moving leftwards. For example in Chapter 3, it doesn’t start with Cities and Memory but rather the second one which is Cities and Desire and so forth every time introducing new cities as if it were a machine sliding to the left and eating up the first city name mentioned.

In Chapter 9, the pattern is continued but it is repeated 3 times as if it were 2 new chapters, but the difference is that it stops and Hidden Cities and then continues to delete the first names and no new ones are added.