I made a connection today that I find fairly significant between the TED Talk and the article by Arthur Miller that we read. In the first paragraph, Miller says the phrase "skepticism of science", and while this phrase doesn't directly connect to what I found, I was still reminded of something that is similar between the two. The TED man said that we don't blame a higher power, we blame ourselves; people today aren't as religious as they used to be. When I read the first paragraph by Miller, I came to the conclusion that he was saying that since we don't believe in a higher power, we don't believe in tragedy. Tragedy in one sense is often blamed on a higher power, it is the work of God or another. Since we don't believe in a higher power, we have no one to blame tragedy on, therefore, we don't believe in tragedy. I don't know if this is true, I just found it significant.
Some other things I found that I liked in the Miller article are a few definitions that may be important in the future. One was, "Tragedy...is the consequence of a man's total compulsion to evaluate himself justly," and ,"The tragic feeling is evoked in us when we are in the presence of a character who is ready to lay down his life, if need be, to secure one thing--his sense of personal dignity." This second one especially is something that seems to be fairly standard in tragedies. Hamlet definitely laid down his life to secure his sense of dignity, even though his sense of dignity was different from his perceived dignity...
One final thing that I found significant in this article was the point that Miller made about how we connect to characters. He said that we tend to connect to the characters because of the emotional state that they're in, not their social status. Feelings are universal and affect people of every status, rich or poor.
Some other things I found that I liked in the Miller article are a few definitions that may be important in the future. One was, "Tragedy...is the consequence of a man's total compulsion to evaluate himself justly," and ,"The tragic feeling is evoked in us when we are in the presence of a character who is ready to lay down his life, if need be, to secure one thing--his sense of personal dignity." This second one especially is something that seems to be fairly standard in tragedies. Hamlet definitely laid down his life to secure his sense of dignity, even though his sense of dignity was different from his perceived dignity...
One final thing that I found significant in this article was the point that Miller made about how we connect to characters. He said that we tend to connect to the characters because of the emotional state that they're in, not their social status. Feelings are universal and affect people of every status, rich or poor.