"Survival isn't who you are. It's who you become." -'The 100'

One of my favorite TV Series at the moment is The 100, which is one of the new popular shows that runs on The CW. This show first premiered on March 19, 2014; I didn't even know about it until I was looking through Netflix back in October and saw that a show called The 100, was recently added and nearly had a 5/5 star rating, so naturally I thought I would give the show a try and soon after starting it I was HOOKED!

"The Ark"

This series starts with one of the main characters, Clarke explaining what has happened and where she is. She states:

"It's been 97 years since a nuclear apocalypse killed everyone on Earth, leaving the planet simmering in radiation. Fortunately, there were survivors at the time of the bombs. There is now only The Ark, one station forged from the many. We're told the Earth needs another 100 years to become survivable again and man can go home, back to the ground. The ground, that's the dream."

Clarke, played by
Eliza Taylor

We soon find out that Clarke and many other minors are in "prison"!  Since they have been up in space for nearly a hundred years, all of their food, supplies and oxygen are low at The Ark. They believe they are the only humans left in the universe so to keep the human race alive; no matter what crime they commit they are sentenced to death. They shoot you out in space, they call it "getting floated". The only way you don't get "floated" from committing a crime is if you are under the age of 18. The reason why this show is called The 100, is because the people that are in charge of the Ark decide to send 100 prisoners down to earth to see if it is livable once again. 

I love the character development that happens once they are on earth, from the start of the season to the end. It starts out with the 100, acting like normal teenagers, partying, not thinking/planing how to survive and where to sleep. They mature into warriors, when they need to start fighting for their lives when they realize that some humans have been living on earth all this time and they aren't happy that they are living on their land. I also like how we learn more about how these teenagers used to live on The Ark through flashbacks, and how much their characters had to change to survive. 

I recommend this series to anyone that likes Action, Drama, and their minds being BLOWN multiple times throughout a season.  

I would rate Season 1 of The 100, 9.3/10.  The only reason why I didn't give it a perfect score is because the series starts out a little slow but by the third episode it picks up pace and keeps getting better with every episode. 

Les Stroud Vs. Bear Grylls: The Real Survivor

Although the debate may have begun long ago, even today I still hear people talk about who is better: Les Stroud (Survivorman) or Bear Grylls (Man Vs. Wild). If I were to take a stance on this argument, I would have to say that without a doubt, Les Stroud is the king of the wild. Here are some of the differences between the two survivalists:

While Bear Grylls does put himself in some dangerous situations, he always has a crew and medical team following close behind. This is unlike Les, because he is always alone and whatever situation he is in is truly dangerous, never staged. Les often has shots of himself walking far off into the distance. Because he is actually alone, this means that he has to walk all the way out, often climbing up steep slopes, only to have to do it all over again to go back for his equipment.

Even though some may argue that Survivorman does not have enough action and may even be boring at times, I would say that it is more for the educational value. When it comes to Bear Grylls, he tends to go for the shock and aw approach. You will not see Les Stroud bite the head of a live snake, but that is definitely something that Grylls would do.

When it comes to Les, his approach is to teach the viewer how to survive in real life situations. He brings almost nothing with him, and uses his knowledge of survival to adapt to different situations. I am not saying that Grylls isn’t smart or that he isn’t a real survivalist, I just know to take his show for what it is; entertainment. If that is what you are looking for as a viewer then by all means, watch a show where the host brings an entire crew and has a raft prefabricated for himself so that all he has to do is put it together. If you want a show that is going to actually help you survive in the wild, then I would tune into Survivorman.

Verbiage versus Wisdom

After reading Roy Ascott's article "Planetary Technoetics: Art, Technology and Consciousness," I found several points to agree with. I agree that, in order to survive as a species, we will need to move toward an expanded sense of connectedness with the other inhabitants of the earth. I also agree that artists can facilitate this process, as can technology. And, yes, the wisdom of indigenous cultures has largely been ignored, especially by Science.

However reasonable these points sound, Ascott conflates them with conjecture, such as when he seems to assume that the "Mixed Reality" of indigenous cultures are all based on plant-based drugs. He also sites Narby's hypothesis that the visions of shamans are from their ability to communicate with their own DNA, because we don't yet know what that annoying 97% is for. This is presented with reference to DNA's photon emission as a possible origin of shamanic imagery, which is so much easier to explain this way than something science has no real grasp of.

Perhaps the most dangerous idea presented here is the merging of biological organisms and technology. In my view, scientists should not be the ones deciding what they think they can control. I don't believe any of us are bright enough for that kind of power. If I have to choose, though, give me the shamans any day, preferably female.