The concept of general information systems has been explored throughout class this week. On Thursday, we discussed the capabilities of perfect and complete knowledge. The human capabilities with access to perfect knowledge could be endless. the subject here that particularly interests me is the idea of perfect knowledge and its impacts on prejudice and ability to promote acceptance in society. As we discussed in class, Stars in my Pocket touches on the idea of foreign and familiar and the dichotomy between them. in Particular, things that are foreign to some people, can often lead to judgements and prejudices due to their lack of knowledge of the subject.
An instance of this would be one person holding prejudices of the Islam tradition regarding sacrifice and Jihad. these prejudices may very well be due to a lack of knowledge of the religion and the related traditions/beliefs. With access to perfect knowledge, perhaps there would be a greater understanding of tradition and culture. This greater understanding takes the Islam tradition from a foreign/unfamiliar subject and turns it into a more familiar one. With familiarity comes understanding/appreciation. As certain things are better appreciated, prejudices could be suppressed.
“Stars,” in my opinion, is a peep into this concept. The book presents readers with circumstances they may be unfamiliar with (homosexuality, lack of gender, oddly configured characters, etc). With increased exposure to these unfamiliar aspects of the book, the reader is able to better understand/ accept the circumstances for how they are. In other words, throughout the book, the discomfort or unfamiliarity of the book evolves into a more familiar feeling. The knowledge that the book provides, just as a perfect knowledge system would, provides an opportunity for once unfamiliarity to become custom.