NationStates Jolt Archive

So my teacher is telling the class about Macbeth and then he inserts his own theory on MacBeth's willingness to kill. He calls it his "Potato Chip Theory;" for MacBeth, killing is like eating potato chips: you can't have just one. He also has his "Job-for-Life Theory;" he said that teaching was a profession that will never go out of style for this reason: markets may come and go, but there will always be stupid kids.

I began to wonder about his theories, and applying their logic to decisions that I made, such as whether I could just go with playing one round of Call of Duty 4 (I can't). And I was amazed that what might have been intended as a joke, might have actually be true. So I want to know what kind of theories that you developed based on your observations (and try to come up with a witty name for it!).

I have my own theory about karma, in that if something good happens, something bad will happen and vice versa. This is validated by experiences in my life, such as when my mother and I get into an arguement, for some strange reason she always cooks great food (trust me, my mother is not trying to say sorry or something like that; she holds grudges for weeks and has never come out and said sorry).

About McBeth : It has always confused me how this guy killed probably hundreds in his life - if I recall correctly, the play starts with McBeth and Duncan just coming back from a battle - yet killing the king is supposed to totally and entirely change his character and turn him into this evil person who can't stop killing.
But then again, killing peasants probably didn't count back then.

As for the rest of your post, I'm not quite sure what you're trying to say.

You mean like Murhpey's Law and such?

So my teacher is telling the class about Macbeth and then he inserts his own theory on MacBeth's willingness to kill. He calls it his "Potato Chip Theory;" for MacBeth, killing is like eating potato chips: you can't have just one. He also has his "Job-for-Life Theory;" he said that teaching was a profession that will never go out of style for this reason: markets may come and go, but there will always be stupid kids.

I began to wonder about his theories, and applying their logic to decisions that I made, such as whether I could just go with playing one round of Call of Duty 4 (I can't). And I was amazed that what might have been intended as a joke, might have actually be true. So I want to know what kind of theories that you developed based on your observations (and try to come up with a witty name for it!).

I have my own theory about karma, in that if something good happens, something bad will happen and vice versa. This is validated by experiences in my life, such as when my mother and I get into an arguement, for some strange reason she always cooks great food (trust me, my mother is not trying to say sorry or something like that; she holds grudges for weeks and has never come out and said sorry).

My theory in life is rather religious, so it will probably be attacked on NSG... It boils down to this... We live in an imperfect world where shit happens that's often out of your control, change what you can but learn to tolerate that which you cannot change... Have faith in God and look forward to the day where there won't be anymore crap to put up with.

About McBeth : It has always confused me how this guy killed probably hundreds in his life - if I recall correctly, the play starts with McBeth and Duncan just coming back from a battle - yet killing the king is supposed to totally and entirely change his character and turn him into this evil person who can't stop killing.
But then again, killing peasants probably didn't count back then.

As for the rest of your post, I'm not quite sure what you're trying to say.

It's ok if you're killing the enemy who are also trying to kill you. Killing your own king however is treachery and was motivated purely by greed.

Killing and murder are profoundly different things, and affect the psyche very differently, although the line can be blurry and thin.

I have a theory of life. Life equals problems, no life, no problems :D Unfortunately I have a life, thus I have problems :P

The Moon is hollow and was built by aliens so they could intervene in our evolutiom by messing with our DNA.




Apparently

It's ok if you're killing the enemy who are also trying to kill you. Killing your own king however is treachery and was motivated purely by greed.

The way I see it, back in McBeth's time and place the people who wanted to kill him wanted to kill him because otherwise he would have killed them.

And I don't really see much difference between killing a person, and killing a person.

I have a theory of life. Life equals problems, no life, no problems :D Unfortunately I have a life, thus I have problems :P

They're for keeping you entertained until you've got no more life and no more problems.

The way I see it, back in McBeth's time and place the people who wanted to kill him wanted to kill him because otherwise he would have killed them.

And I don't really see much difference between killing a person, and killing a person.

Well presumably they believed in the divine right of kings. So killing the king that God approved of, and finding out you don't get immediately smited, might free you up for a bit more killing.

The way I see it, back in McBeth's time and place the people who wanted to kill him wanted to kill him because otherwise he would have killed them.

And I don't really see much difference between killing a person, and killing a person.

Considering the time in which it was written, you kinda have to suspend judgement on these things and look at it from a Shakespearean audience's perspective.

The way I see it, back in McBeth's time and place the people who wanted to kill him wanted to kill him because otherwise he would have killed them.


I'm not sure. I just think it was part of an ongoing war, with both sides seeing each other as evil that needs to be wiped out.


And I don't really see much difference between killing a person, and killing a person.

Back then, the death of someone was not so significant. But killing someone divinely appointed, on your side, and purely for reasons of greed, is much more significant than killing the 'evil' 'enemy'.

As for the rest of your post, I'm not quite sure what you're trying to say.

Well, people tend to develop their own theories about how the world works or how people behave in order to better understand the world or people. Basically what I'm asking is, what do notice about the world that other people don't notice? And what is your theory on why it happens?

The Moon is hollow and was built by aliens so they could intervene in our evolutiom by messing with our DNA.




Apparently

Complete rubbish. Its me and my time machine doing it. Come on now.... Aliens... you could at least try and come up with a believable theory..

They're for keeping you entertained until you've got no more life and no more problems.

Yup, indeed, once I solved all my 'problems' either new ones pop up or I'm dead :)

About McBeth : It has always confused me how this guy killed probably hundreds in his life - if I recall correctly, the play starts with McBeth and Duncan just coming back from a battle - yet killing the king is supposed to totally and entirely change his character and turn him into this evil person who can't stop killing.
But then again, killing peasants probably didn't count back then.

As for the rest of your post, I'm not quite sure what you're trying to say.

:confused: I thought it was Lady McBeth who killed the king because McBeth couldn't.

My English Lit Teacher had a theory about McDuff and Lady McBeth... and it made sense given the evidence within the play itself.

*sigh* There are things about life that I know to be true, yet have no way of proving...

*sigh* There are things about life that I know to be true, yet have no way of proving...

Religion is the answer.

To be more specific starting one is.

:confused: I thought it was Lady McBeth who killed the king because McBeth couldn't.

My English Lit Teacher had a theory about McDuff and Lady McBeth... and it made sense given the evidence within the play itself.
no

macbeth did the deed.

he was a bad man from the get-go.

*sigh* There are things about life that I know to be true, yet have no way of proving...

:confused: I thought it was Lady McBeth who killed the king because McBeth couldn't.

My English Lit Teacher had a theory about McDuff and Lady McBeth... and it made sense given the evidence within the play itself.

Please share.

Also, I'd like to hear theories that you made as a child.

My theory about life? In many ways it resembles nothing so much as a box of chocolates. Woah. I know. But hang on...for certain thats a crazy analogy I've just thrown in there, and you're probably rolling your eyes right now at the nonsense this freaky individual from teh internets is spewing out. But we're all friends, so hear me out. I really think I'm onto something here,

Where was I? Ah yes...sorry, now I remember. *clears throat*

Life, it is like the box of chocolates, no? A large portion of it is dark, bitter and hard - and after too much of it, you get ill and die.

Goodnight everybody!

I have so many theories about so many things, I lost track of them, so I can't even remember them unless something comes up that reminds me of a specific one. Nothing in this thread reminds me of any life theories.

Macbeth, on the other hand...

The reason murdering the king was such a life changing event was that it pushed Macbeth off on the path of his destiny, which was a bad one. The witches' prophecy outlined all the fantasies that Macbeth had about his own future and legacy, and the level of achievement he thought he deserved. If that thought had never been externalized by the witches, and if Macbeth had never given it momentum by repeating it to Lady Macbeth, he likely would never have had the nerve -- it might never have occurred to him -- to murder the king and usurp the throne in order to make the prophecy real. Everything that happened after that, including the downward spiral of Macbeth's mind and personal life, was a direct result of that fateful and fatal choice to follow the path laid out by the witches. "Macbeth" is a tale of the price paid for giving in to egotistical temptation.

Religion is the answer.

To be more specific starting one is.

I think I'll wait until I have a better grasp on things (Take note, Mr. Ratzinger!)

"Life is a sexually transmitted, terminal disease."
You can choose whether this truth depresses you, or whether it sets you free.

Also, see my sig for some more truth ;)

...My English Lit Teacher had a theory about McDuff and Lady McBeth...

lol. What, I was just helping her with her lines! The English Lit Teacher can have her theories she can't prove a thing.

Regarding Antilon's teacher's potato-chip theory -- it comes directly from the play. One of Macbeth's speeches contains this quotation:

I am in blood
Stepp’d in so far that, should I wade no more,
Returning were as tedious as go o’er.
Macbeth. ACT III Scene 4.

He's saying at this point in the play he's already killed so many people illegally (as opposed to in the context of a general at war) that there's little point in avoiding killing those who obstruct him now -- he's already lost his soul; all that's left is his life.

You have to distinguish between his lawful killing (as a general in support of Duncan, his King AND his relative) and murder (unlawful killing for gain).

You also have to understand the Divine Right of Kings (the idea that the King gained his right to rule from the Almighty), the Great Chain of Being (the idea that there is a natural hierarchy with God at the apex and crawling critters at the bottom, with a King nearish the top, and the idea that to break that chain, especially close at the top, would cause natural disasters as the universe recoiled. After the murder, according to the text, there were eclipses, Owls killed hawks during the day, horses ran wild and ate each other, there were earthquakes, storms, ghostly howls -- the works.

You also have to know the importance of Host and Guest, in a time where there was no Holiday Inn. There was an important social contract in which the host had a sacred duty to protect the guest...

http://books.google.com/books?id=f9_a4d0j9DQC&pg=PA260&lpg=PA260&dq=macbeth+hospitality&source=bl&ots=enpyAjnj1h&sig=jSoaQkVWCfoSJPUkVsuzYzpMYcQ&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=9&ct=result


Gah, and I'm in the midst of teaching all this now! ;)

:confused: I thought it was Lady McBeth who killed the king because McBeth couldn't.

My English Lit Teacher had a theory about McDuff and Lady McBeth... and it made sense given the evidence within the play itself.
No, Macbeth killed Duncan. Lady Macbeth makes a point of saying she could not kill Duncan because he looked too much like her father. Macbeth staggers from the murder scene carrying the weapon, forgetting to place the daggers to blame the servants, and would not return to do so. At that point Lady M. took the bloody dagger, returned to the chamber, and wiped the blood on the servants.

My main theory is that if more people had more sex, we'd live in a happier world.

But not so much a theory as part of my experiences/persona that I can share: back when I was a Catholic, I believed in a benevolent God who kept his hands out of human matters and let us do whatever we wanted without interfering. Then I read this book (which was basically an anti-God book) and it got me thinking - my God, back then, basically just existed for no reason what-so-ever than I had been raised to believe in God. And that's when I stopped believing in God.

Who needs a theory? I eat, I breathe, I sleep, I play video games, I watch TV, I work, I play with my pets, I (wish I had someone to) have sex (with), I tell jokes, and Imostly enjoy it one day at a time.

My theory on life.

Life sucks. Life isn't fair. Life has no purpose. There is no divine justice.
But what the hell, have fun while you're alive because after that there's nothing left!

My theory on life:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUYUF65VK5M&feature=channel_page