Monday, August 30, 2010

Mad Scientists and Evil Magicians in Popular Culture

Cultural representations of both mad scientists and evil magicians abound, as shown in the following twenty minute playlist.  But why?  What do scientists and magicians have in common?  Why is there a part of us that fears them?  If knowledge is power, is knowledge dangerous?  Does the average person feel excluded in some way from both scientific and magical expertise?  And what should we be wary of in the 21st century as we continue to push the boundaries of knowledge and redraw the line that separates what is possible from what is impossible?

1 comment:

  1. I agree, WoW has taken over a lot of people's lives I have seen if first hand, but you also have to think of systems like the Wii that are helping those people that are not as social by offering games like wii fit.

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