"The Wild" (1 Viewer)

[meLoncoLLie]

What is the definition of 'The Wild'? Doesn't it just mean 'the natural world'? I came upon a paragraph in the 2003 Daily Telegraph study guide and got really confused:

"In these two science fiction texts the composers are engaging in a discussion about whether the inhabitants of future worlds will still be able to behave 'naturally' - able to show compassion, exhibit bravery, maintain meaningful relationships, worship a god and have their rights respected. Or will they be living 'in the wild' - unable to express any of the qualities that makes humans recognisable? "

I don't get the last bit. How is living 'in the wild' relevant to how humane humans are?

 

[gosh]

You can interpret the phrase "in the wild" a number of ways:

1. It can refer to something as being in its natural, uncultivated state. When society is in its natural order, left uninfluenced by technology and the outside world. In the context of the book, it refers to the fundamental principles that make us human, i.e the true essence of humanity including: natural instinct, emotion, free thought and individuality. Basically, how society is naturally.

2. It can refer to something as being far away from its natural state (i.e lost, severed, detached, isolated). Brave New World and Bladerunner both present us with dystopian societies severed from nature and the environment. In this sense, humanity is "in the wild" (lost). Society has deteriorated, lost its morals and values and lost any sense of emotion and individuality. "In the Wild" can refer to humanity's isolation, how detached it is from the natural order of things.

The daily telegraph takes the later perspective. Society has lost its ways. Humans are no longer humane as they have lost touch with nature. Humanity is lost-"in the wild"

 

[Cab31]

The worst thing about this unit is how it is named. Honestly, the most stupid way to name this unit is 'in the wild' because (as i was last year) most students freak out that 'in the wild' is not completely defined.

Think about it like this, in BNW we are presented with a society that is scientifically conditioned to be 'afraid' of nature. They are afraid of the 'natural wilderness'. You must then consider what the 'wilderness' itself actually is. A winderness can mean something 'unfamiliar' and, as a result, you can say that the reader is viewing the society in the book as being an unfamiliar wilderness. These people lack natural morals and emotions, and i guess that you could call these people 'Wild'.

Then you have Bladerunner. This place lacks anything 'natural', it is devoid of anything 'wild', if you are thinking about 'wild' as something untamed and natural. But then you could say that this city is completely wild in the same sense as BNW - it lacks natural rhythms.

"or will they be living 'in the wild' - unable to express any of the qualities that makes humans recognisable? "

What makes humans human? Think about it. How do u define what it is to be human. If something walks and talks like a human, are they human? That's the question you are asked in both texts. In BNW, the 'humans' look like humans on the outside, but inwardly they lack emotions, experience and empathy. Are they human? Or has humanity been hypnotised out of them along with individuality, and social freedom. In Bladerunner, you have replicants who resemble humans in every way, except they arent meant to feel emotions. Then you have humans whose humanity seems to have been destroyed along with nature. The irony is that the replicants do feel empathy for each other - Roy batty howls when he discovers that his fellow 'replicant' has died. Is that not wild? Is the fact that he feel and empathises human? Who is more human - the humans or the scientifically generated replicants. Are they a replication of the humans of the past? 'Nexus' means Link - nexus 6 could perhaps mean link to the humanity of the past (i just thought of that then and i wish i had have used that in the HSC!)


I hope that helps. I am trying not to go to deep into it. If you need anymore help, PM and i will try to type something up for you.