5 thoughts on “Aliens throughout Modern History, J. White”
White does a great job in his presentation of explaining where the idea of the alien came from, as well as how the concepts of the alien manifested in society. His presentation focused mainly on the dystopian ideas of the alien, incorporating the philosophy that humans inevitably fear what they don’t understand. White was able to parallel the different reactions to the concept of an alien with what was occurring in society during that time, such during World War II where the Nazi’s were compared to aliens as agents that sought to destroy democracy and freedom. White also detailed the religious interpretation of aliens within the United States, mainly being how aliens would invade the earth and bring about Armageddon. While I did enjoy White’s presentation and found it informative, he could have spent more time explaining utopian visions of aliens rather than focusing the dystopian ideas. Also, there were some technical issues with the presentation relating to the audio; at some points I was having trouble understanding what White was explaining.
Hey good job with your presentation! The history of the concept of the alien was interesting. I have never known the origin of what aliens were perceived as in modern history. You did a good job of showing the transition of the alien throughout the different decades and eras in history. I enjoyed learning about how aliens were what was described in the religious readings about armageddon, going to end the world and how this working definition of aliens morphed into those countries that challenged the United States’ democratic principles. The Nazis were portrayed as aliens to the United States for this reason. During the Cold War both the United States and the Soviet Union were becoming global superpowers and just like if aliens invaded the earth, the United States fear the, alien, USSR just the same. The robots as aliens that you brought up was also good. Robots are not human and by that definition can be alien because they are so different. I can see how there were some utopian visions and dystopian visions that were created, from Star Trek to RoboCop.
Great job with showing the evolution of the concept of the alien throughout the last 150 or so years. I found it hard to follow most a lot of the points you were trying to make and from the pausing in the audio and had to draw some of my own conclusions because of this. The radio broadcast of “War of the Worlds”, or the book “The Day the Earth Stood Still” should get an honorable mention in this though.
Josh,
Really interesting topic. I never really thought about aliens beyond the context of ET, so it was nice to learn about how the alien was conceptualized. I had not considered the religious aspects attached to aliens. They are associated with Armageddon, and people turned to religion to explain alien-like skeletons. How would religious leaders regard ideas connecting aliens to religion considering they are not mentioned in religious scripture? I liked how you explored the psychological aspect of aliens, and how they grew out of our fear of the unknown. I also thought you transitioned well into how aliens played a role during World War II as a representation of the “other” in general and the Nazis specifically. One thing you might want to consider for your final project is your image choice. Some of the pictures did not match up with your commentary and seemed a little out of place. This, however, only occurred on a few slides, and overall, I enjoyed your presentation.
Josh, I liked how you brought up several different points about aliens that I’ve never really thought about. For example, how they were never a thought that occurred to people before the 1880’s and their relationship with propaganda during World War II, especially with Nazis. The topic of aliens was a really good one since our society is obsessed to say the least, but the transition to robots in the middle threw me off for a little but, and there were some technological difficulties which made the slidecast difficult to watch. But after that it was cool how you used film examples like ET to show what we think of aliens. Before that, describing aliens as being both utopian and dystopian was definitely my favorite line of the slidecast. Overall good presentation, just needed a few technical fixes and match up the pictures to the vocals a little more.
The slidecast succeeds at tying the concept of the alien to other aspects of science fiction and to the anxieties of the Second World War and the Cold War. People fear what is not understood. Adding to the mysticism and confusion associated with alien anxieties, people turn to religion when they are unsure what they know. The concept of the alien really grew during world war two, as it was a way to paint the enemy in a negative light with propaganda. People feared the foreign and the unknown, and to capitalize on this the Nazis were compared to aliens. The concept of the alien is also related to the space race, when the superpowers took the fight for superiority to space. The slidecast also mentions robots and their position as aliens on earth. The sentient robot was the new embodiment of the unknown alien. The Postwar concept of the alien and the robot grew in popular culture with pieces of media such as Star trek, ET, and the Guardians of the Galaxy. In this way public perceptions of aliens, space, and robots were deeply ingrained in popular culture. It was interesting to learn just how much media has been influenced by the concept of the other. In the future I wo
White does a great job in his presentation of explaining where the idea of the alien came from, as well as how the concepts of the alien manifested in society. His presentation focused mainly on the dystopian ideas of the alien, incorporating the philosophy that humans inevitably fear what they don’t understand. White was able to parallel the different reactions to the concept of an alien with what was occurring in society during that time, such during World War II where the Nazi’s were compared to aliens as agents that sought to destroy democracy and freedom. White also detailed the religious interpretation of aliens within the United States, mainly being how aliens would invade the earth and bring about Armageddon. While I did enjoy White’s presentation and found it informative, he could have spent more time explaining utopian visions of aliens rather than focusing the dystopian ideas. Also, there were some technical issues with the presentation relating to the audio; at some points I was having trouble understanding what White was explaining.
Josh,
Hey good job with your presentation! The history of the concept of the alien was interesting. I have never known the origin of what aliens were perceived as in modern history. You did a good job of showing the transition of the alien throughout the different decades and eras in history. I enjoyed learning about how aliens were what was described in the religious readings about armageddon, going to end the world and how this working definition of aliens morphed into those countries that challenged the United States’ democratic principles. The Nazis were portrayed as aliens to the United States for this reason. During the Cold War both the United States and the Soviet Union were becoming global superpowers and just like if aliens invaded the earth, the United States fear the, alien, USSR just the same. The robots as aliens that you brought up was also good. Robots are not human and by that definition can be alien because they are so different. I can see how there were some utopian visions and dystopian visions that were created, from Star Trek to RoboCop.
Great job with showing the evolution of the concept of the alien throughout the last 150 or so years. I found it hard to follow most a lot of the points you were trying to make and from the pausing in the audio and had to draw some of my own conclusions because of this. The radio broadcast of “War of the Worlds”, or the book “The Day the Earth Stood Still” should get an honorable mention in this though.
Josh,
Really interesting topic. I never really thought about aliens beyond the context of ET, so it was nice to learn about how the alien was conceptualized. I had not considered the religious aspects attached to aliens. They are associated with Armageddon, and people turned to religion to explain alien-like skeletons. How would religious leaders regard ideas connecting aliens to religion considering they are not mentioned in religious scripture? I liked how you explored the psychological aspect of aliens, and how they grew out of our fear of the unknown. I also thought you transitioned well into how aliens played a role during World War II as a representation of the “other” in general and the Nazis specifically. One thing you might want to consider for your final project is your image choice. Some of the pictures did not match up with your commentary and seemed a little out of place. This, however, only occurred on a few slides, and overall, I enjoyed your presentation.
Josh, I liked how you brought up several different points about aliens that I’ve never really thought about. For example, how they were never a thought that occurred to people before the 1880’s and their relationship with propaganda during World War II, especially with Nazis. The topic of aliens was a really good one since our society is obsessed to say the least, but the transition to robots in the middle threw me off for a little but, and there were some technological difficulties which made the slidecast difficult to watch. But after that it was cool how you used film examples like ET to show what we think of aliens. Before that, describing aliens as being both utopian and dystopian was definitely my favorite line of the slidecast. Overall good presentation, just needed a few technical fixes and match up the pictures to the vocals a little more.
The slidecast succeeds at tying the concept of the alien to other aspects of science fiction and to the anxieties of the Second World War and the Cold War. People fear what is not understood. Adding to the mysticism and confusion associated with alien anxieties, people turn to religion when they are unsure what they know. The concept of the alien really grew during world war two, as it was a way to paint the enemy in a negative light with propaganda. People feared the foreign and the unknown, and to capitalize on this the Nazis were compared to aliens. The concept of the alien is also related to the space race, when the superpowers took the fight for superiority to space. The slidecast also mentions robots and their position as aliens on earth. The sentient robot was the new embodiment of the unknown alien. The Postwar concept of the alien and the robot grew in popular culture with pieces of media such as Star trek, ET, and the Guardians of the Galaxy. In this way public perceptions of aliens, space, and robots were deeply ingrained in popular culture. It was interesting to learn just how much media has been influenced by the concept of the other. In the future I wo