Thursday 4 February 2016

Week Three: Quiz

Michel Foucault!

This does not surprise me. I did English Literature and Gender Studies in my undergraduate degree, so we breathed the man for four years. It warms my heart to see I didn't spend over $30,000 for nothing. At least some Foucault rubbed off on my Episteme. I believe myself to be a very skeptical person, I'm a bit of a conspiracy theorist, and I often question preconceived notions. However, I take these types of quizzes with a grain of salt. I am aware of my bias in answering the questions, and how it affects my results. People are not easily pigeonholed, and oftentimes the answers provided are not the ones someone would choose. Instead, we must pick the best of rather than the thing itself. As the quiz result aptly stated, I hate labels (unless they're designer, naturally),  On a more serious note, I believe that personal background is crucial in understanding motivations, biases, and individual reason.  This is textbook Foucault.  Perhaps this quiz was a way of our seemingly kind professor to exercise Biopower on us, diverting us with a fun activity and keeping us away from the true meaning of this course!

Anyway, it's still all French to me (or at the very least early, poorly translated Foucault).

2 comments:

  1. It's kind of funny to read you somewhat being relieved by your prescription of Foucault and then talking about being a very sceptical person, before stating that you take these quizzes "with a grain of salt".

    Perfect.

    I also took English in my undergrad with the added bonus of Philosophy (so you can practically smell that man between the lines of my undergrad essays). But I do agree with your conclusion that this quiz should not be taken too seriously, as other factors like our own personal bias steer our answers a little ways away from their expected path.

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  2. Oh hi fellow Foucault. I was a psychology major, but Foucault was definitely present in my English/Philosophy/Sociology courses. While also taking these sorts of quizzes with a grain of salt, it's funny how they can make you aware of your underlying beliefs. Do I believe that the relationship between power and knowledge underlies almost every major topic we discuss? Yeah, I actually do. Do I think (as you put it) that "personal background is crucial in understanding motivations, biases"? Yup. Funny how I never stopped to notice these prevalent beliefs until I took this quiz.

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