While this video is just meant to be funny, he brings up the interesting idea that we all have our own "White Whale", as Danielle says. It may be an actual whale, like Ahab, or it could be something like McDonald's, gossip, all of the things that Danielle brings up in her post, you name it--it is your own white whale, after all. White whales are the things that we come back to, over and over and over, because we can't stop. (As a side note for comic relief, check out Gaffigan's whale video as a nice way to wrap up Moby Dick.)
The way we return to things again and again can put us in a boring life-cycle, as Sam talks about in his "The (never-ending) Moby Dick Metaphor" post. Sam talks about how we can get used to something and even get past it for a little while, but something will change slightly and it will draw us back in to this cycle. I would like to take that one step further: that by always focusing on the white whales and never-ending cycles, we will eventually be pushed into a downward spiral.
There is one kind of spiral, but there are two ways to move on that spiral. One way to move is to be pushed down by the white whales to more of the same cycles, but the other is something we have to work for. We have to actually climb up the spiral. Dr. Burton talks about this in his "Consider the Spiral" post. He says, "it is necessary to circle back, to review where one has been before, and to see it from the vantage point of further experience. This is why we should imitate the spiral in our learning or in our efforts to create something of value." We are all located somewhere on spirals (you can choose what spirals you want to follow). It is necessary to look back and see how we have--and can continue to--improve, but it is essential that we fight to make sure that we aren't pushed back down to the white whales.
Learn to let go of the white whales, as Danielle says, and try to escape from Sam's never ending cycle. Always be looking back on the spiral to see the ideas that you can continue or improve, but don't go back to the white whales that will push you into the downward spiral.
An interesting take on the spiral concept. I like the idea of an upward spiral, how that maybe looping back to our original ideas and then taking them upward into new conclusions can propel us upward rather than downward.
ReplyDeleteI like how you linked together the ideas of the white whale, the never ending cycle, and the spiral. You have a knack for creating connections in your posts that I really appreciate.
ReplyDeleteThe concept of going downward on the spiral is great. I feel like it adds more complexity, and danger, to the spiral concept. Sometimes we may not even be aware that we are spiraling downwards because it is such a subtle decline, but eventually we will realize it once we are down far enough. This says to me: not only do you need to return to ideas in order to spiral upwards, make sure you are not returning to "white whaleian" ideas that will make you spiral downwards.
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