Link: https://www.ted.com/talks/chris_abani_muses_on_humanity
Write a well-structured blog, as a group, that connects the ideas presented in the talk to an idea discussed in 1984. Use quotations from EACH text in your blog.
In the TED Talk, ‘Muses on Humanity’, Chris Abani discusses the humanity he witnesses during times of adversity. During the difficult times, people he didn’t even know reached out to help him and his family. His ideas on humanity have many similarities to the ideas explored in the novel 1984 by George Orwell.
For example, Abani talks about how the Igbos build their own gods. He says that the people pray to the gods, but “...if the god became unruly and began to ask for human sacrifice, the Igbos would destroy the god. They would knock down the shrine, and they would stop saying the god's name. This is how they came to reclaim their humanity.” Abani points out that people should not lose their humanity because of someone else, even if that other is a god. A similar idea is explored in 1984. Winston thinks to himself, “They could be tracked down by enquiry, they could be squeezed out by torture. But if the object was not to say alive but to stay human, what difference did it ultimately make? They could not alter your feelings: for that matter you could not alter them yourself, even if you wanted to” (Orwell 174). In the world Winston lives in, the Party is a god-like figure. Winston believes that humanity stays within a person, no matter what others do to a person, which connects to what Abani says in his talk.
Additionally, in his talk, Abani discusses a South African phrase called Ubuntu. He states that “Ubuntu comes out of a philosophy that says, the only way for me to be human is for you to reflect my humanity back at me” (Abani). Abani believes that humanity is preserved when you can see humanity in others. In 1984, Winston sees humanity in a prole woman singing. When Winston looked that the woman singing, he “wondered how many children she had given birth to. It might easily be fifteen...her life had been laundering, scrubbing, darning, cooking, sweeping, polishing, mending, scrubbing, laundering, first for children, then for grandchildren, over thirty unbroken years. At the end of it she was still singing” (Orwell 228). To Winston, the woman was proof that humanity still existed. The simple act of singing allowed Winston to believe in humanity and, in a way, connect to Ubuntu.
Both TED Talk speaker Chris Abani, and author George Orwell explore ideas relating to humanity. They emphasize that people should not lose their humanity because of what someone else does or says. In addition, they discussed that humanity is preserved when you can see humanity in others.
Write a well-structured blog, as a group, that connects the ideas presented in the talk to an idea discussed in 1984. Use quotations from EACH text in your blog.
In the TED Talk, ‘Muses on Humanity’, Chris Abani discusses the humanity he witnesses during times of adversity. During the difficult times, people he didn’t even know reached out to help him and his family. His ideas on humanity have many similarities to the ideas explored in the novel 1984 by George Orwell.
For example, Abani talks about how the Igbos build their own gods. He says that the people pray to the gods, but “...if the god became unruly and began to ask for human sacrifice, the Igbos would destroy the god. They would knock down the shrine, and they would stop saying the god's name. This is how they came to reclaim their humanity.” Abani points out that people should not lose their humanity because of someone else, even if that other is a god. A similar idea is explored in 1984. Winston thinks to himself, “They could be tracked down by enquiry, they could be squeezed out by torture. But if the object was not to say alive but to stay human, what difference did it ultimately make? They could not alter your feelings: for that matter you could not alter them yourself, even if you wanted to” (Orwell 174). In the world Winston lives in, the Party is a god-like figure. Winston believes that humanity stays within a person, no matter what others do to a person, which connects to what Abani says in his talk.
Additionally, in his talk, Abani discusses a South African phrase called Ubuntu. He states that “Ubuntu comes out of a philosophy that says, the only way for me to be human is for you to reflect my humanity back at me” (Abani). Abani believes that humanity is preserved when you can see humanity in others. In 1984, Winston sees humanity in a prole woman singing. When Winston looked that the woman singing, he “wondered how many children she had given birth to. It might easily be fifteen...her life had been laundering, scrubbing, darning, cooking, sweeping, polishing, mending, scrubbing, laundering, first for children, then for grandchildren, over thirty unbroken years. At the end of it she was still singing” (Orwell 228). To Winston, the woman was proof that humanity still existed. The simple act of singing allowed Winston to believe in humanity and, in a way, connect to Ubuntu.
Both TED Talk speaker Chris Abani, and author George Orwell explore ideas relating to humanity. They emphasize that people should not lose their humanity because of what someone else does or says. In addition, they discussed that humanity is preserved when you can see humanity in others.