Author: Camille Andrews

Journal 4
In high school, I was on the honor council, a group of elected students and faculty whose job it was to sit as a jury on disciplinary hearings for cheating, stealing, lying, and plagiarism, and, on the side, to promote good honorable behavior in the classroom. As a member of the council for four years, I was privy to the knowledge of some pretty foolish and selfish actions that were carried out by my classmates. Due to our pledge of confidentiality, we were not allowed to make any of the verdicts or details of the cases public. Thinking about it now, as we have begun to discuss the general theories of ethics in class, I wish I had known some of the theories then in order to apply them to not only the cases but also to the sort of “burden” of carrying the stories around with me, as I sometimes felt that they were.
The social contract theory, the Hobbesian idea that the rules which govern us instill an intrinsic duty upon us to uphold them, was eluded to many times by one of the teachers who sat on the counsel. Dr. Kasten, who was the sort of model of honor and ethics had sat on the council for almost twenty years. Every time that someone new came before us, the rest of the members patiently waited for his spiel on honor and duty and upholding the rules. He explained in highly metaphorical jargon that we are just pieces in a puzzle, a puzzle whose form had been laid out by years and years of tweaking and refining, that we were privileged to be a part of this environment of trust, and that actions not only affect the individual but the whole community. These speeches were iconic and seemed to trash the notion that one would act on a theory such as subjective realism or ethical egoism. I remember seeing the faces of the culprits fall immediately as they began to feel the weight of Dr. Kasten’s words. Although not all fond memories, I find myself returning to the hearing room and Dr. Kasten’s words whenever a discussion about ethics arises.

Journal 3
While in class today, Professor Drexler asked the question as to why Hank Morgan initially keeps his educational and economic system secret. After a few comments about the oppressiveness of the church and the “residual power of tradition and superstition,” I expressed the idea about the power of written word and the power which is automatically bestowed those who can read.
The definition of enlightenment emphasizes reason and individualism. This individualism can come from many different sources, one of which is the ability to dictate one’s own education. I am not suggesting that I or any of my classmates have complete control over our educations, however, I am able to go to the library and pick out a random book, explore and read the latest gossip from the magazines in the grocery store, and to pick up the newspaper and say in tuned with current events. Those who are unable to read are only able to gain access to these stories and information by the word of mouth. During the sixth century, the word of mouth was the only source of information, unless you were one of the select few, very select few, that had been taught out of read. This made it extremely difficult for anyone to rise up and rise out of their current situation. Knowledge is power. When Hank Morgan introduces an educational system, the systematic hold that those who did know how to read was broken and all began to poke holes and see the flaws in their teaching.
Today, in parts of Saudi Arabia and countries around the globe, women especially are automatically oppressed and set at a worth that is significantly below men because of their inability to read, due to the fact that they have never been never taught or it is against the law. Knowledge is power and the freedom to be enlightened is a privilege that not everyone is afforded across the globe. My hope is that one day, all women are given the freedom to control their own education and individualism.

Journal 2

The summer before my senior year, I was able to take a trip down to Nicaragua as a part of a youth mission trip with my church. During the eight days that I spent in the country we learned about its history, lived in small, dirt-floored cottages, and helped the Natives perform their stereotypical chores. One day, we helped them clear some land for farming. The plot was covered with weeds, overgrown with tangled grasses, and dotted with small trees. Our leader, a Nicaraguan native, brought out a wagon full of machetes and then proceeded to demonstrate how to squat low to the ground, sweep the machete, and properly excavate the plot from the weeds and grasses. We all clamored to grab one, excited to help in whatever way that we could. I gripped the handle of my own machete, trying to mimic the same motion that I had just seen. The machete flew through the air and collided with the ground, leaving a huge divot, not the perfect fresh line that the leader had. I looked around and all the fellow students had seemed to have had the same amount of success and I had. I heard a “whoosh” behind me and realized that some of the native women of the village had joined our work. They tore through the land, perfectly manipulating the machetes, and working at a pace at least ten times that of our group.
Although, at the time, despite my incompetence, I truly believed that I was helping the natives, I have come to realize that maybe I was just helping myself. Reflecting on my experience now, the idea of the “White Man’s burden,” the theory of European imperialism where the “white man” felt as though their conquering of native lands and the introduction of new forms of government and technology was truly helping the native people, came to mind. I came to realize that this sort of need for those of high privilege to try and help and affect the lives of native people or those of lower privilege still permeates today. I was brought to Nicaragua to “help” the natives, when in truth, they do not and did not really need my help.
When I began to read A Connecticut Yankee in King’s Authur’s Court, I began to wonder whether Hank Morgan imposes his own rules, regulations, and introduces the citizens to new technology not only out of his own arrogance but comes from his own sort of “White man’s burden.” Hank Morgan truly believes that his system is helping the people, believes that his superior intelligence will makes their day to day lives better. His superior intelligence gives him privilege that he may yield.

Coming into this class, I was not sure what to expect. During the crazy, cut-throat time that is the scheduling period at Bucknell, the ambiguous title of the class “Time/Machine” intrigued me. After the first couple days, the intrigue has continued to grow.
I like to think that I am a curious person. However, when it comes to technology, I tend to leave the exploration and the innovation to the experts of the field or those that have a greater interest than I do. I then wait and reap the fruits of their labor in the form of cell phones, computers, cars, etc., all the amazing gadgets that have sort of shaped how I’ve grown up. On Thursday, we discussed the passage in which Hank Morgan reflected that he feels as though there is a certain void within him as he lives without the technology that his is used to. This prompted me to attempt to place myself in his shoes, in a world without technology and the commodities that I am used to. I wondered whether our brains, those of whom, like me, have been privileged enough to constantly use and access a large amount technology, have become sort of wired to require technology in close to everything that we do. With the advancements in cell phones and texting, communication has been drastically altered. Higher education and entering high paying jobs require a certain amount of expertise in technology and introduction of technology has trickled down into the education system itself until my mom, who is a kindergarten teacher, is required to learn the ins and outs of the iPad, a device that is given to every student in her class.
Then, as was suggested on Thursday, we also tend judge those who do not have a certain threshold of expertise in technology. Hank Morgan believes the people in the sixth century have such an inferior level of knowledge that he compares them to animals many times throughout the work. However, if we are to apply this to our day to day life, then people like my Grandfather who has not dedicated time to embracing new technology would also be judged as inferior. If he, who I have always held the highest respect for due to his wealth of experience and his character, is judged as inferior due to his lack of technical knowledge, then I personally believe that this notion is extremely flawed.