Knowledge is used as a motivating force in many scientific texts. The two texts analyzed in this website are The Really Big One by Kathryn Schulz and The Truman Show directed by Peter Weir. The texts are discussed separately to show the prevalence of the argument in each text, and then they are brought together to show the wide range of capabilities knowledge has as a motivator.

The Really Big One by Kathryn Schulz is a scientific article which discusses the incredibly high likelihood that a disastrous earthquake will hit the Pacific Northwest in the near future. It analyzes a number of statistics on just how impactful this earthquake and the resulting tsunami will be, using a number of anecdotes and easily understood examples accompanied by a somewhat casual writing style to make itself more appealing and comprehensible. The information it provides is more than just digestible - it is terrifying. The grim descriptions of this natural disaster and the unbelievable aftermath it will leave behind are meant to scare the audience and motivate them to act - either to take preventative measures against this impending calamity or to stay as far away as possible.

Among the many examples Schulz uses to make her article more understandable is her comparison between hands and tectonic plates. She instructs the reader to manipulate their hands in a number of ways to simulate the interaction between tectonic plates, and then goes on to have the reader physically simulate the interactions that would cause a devastating earthquake, saying, “If, on that occasion, only the southern part of the Cascadia subduction zone gives way—your first two fingers, say—the magnitude of the resulting quake will be somewhere between 8.0 and 8.6. That’s the big one. If the entire zone gives way at once, an event that seismologists call a full-margin rupture, the magnitude will be somewhere between 8.7 and 9.2. That’s the very big one.” (Schulz) She then goes on to cite Kenneth Murphy, the director of, “FEMA’s Region X, the division responsible for Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Alaska,” who says that, “‘Our operating assumption is that everything west of Interstate 5 will be toast,’” (Schulz) in order to express how utterly devastating the earthquake the reader had just imitated will be. By using these very easily

understood physical examples, Schulz gives her audience a first-hand understanding of both the unbelievable magnitude of this impending disaster and the terror and disaster that it will yield. Prior to this example, her readers had some understanding of the earthquake, but this terrifying knowledge makes the reader fully aware of this natural disaster, and drives them to fear and avoid the areas it will impact.

Schulz’s description of the devastation this natural disaster will leave in its wake further opens the eyes of her audience. The various estimates she mentions such as, “that in the I-5 corridor it will take between one and three months after the earthquake to restore electricity, a month to a year to restore drinking water and sewer service, six months to a year to restore major highways, and eighteen months to restore health-care facilities,” (Schulz) give quantitative values to how calamitous this event will be. She goes on to say, “on the coast, those numbers go up. Whoever chooses or has no choice but to stay there will spend three to six months without electricity, one to three years without drinking water and sewage systems, and three or more years without hospitals. Those estimates do not apply to the tsunami-inundation zone, which will remain all but uninhabitable for years.” (Schulz) By providing this quantifiable information along with the aforementioned physical examples, Schulz focuses on the impact of the average person and provides more information on the impending disaster the reader just learned of, and in doing so extends her audience's knowledge of this calamity. Thus her audience is further motivated by this newfound knowledge, now cognizant not only of how immediately devastating the earthquake will be, but also of its lasting impacts, and therefore driven by knowledge to again fear and avoid/prepare the Pacific Northwest.

The Really Big One is far from the most hopeful or inspirational texts. For all of its talk of the Pacific Northwest’s impending doom, it provides little to assuage the concerns it raises. It tells a terrifying tale, but essentially says little can be done about these imminent disasters, and that anything that has been attempted has failed. Despite providing little hope, the knowledge it provides is itself a motivational force. The article does not explicitly say what the reader should do, but the knowledge it gives to the reader make a clear statement. The information - not only in relation to the earthquake and its impacts, but also of the simple fact that there is little that can be done about it - clearly tells the reader to stay as far away from the Pacific Northwest. Schulz avoids explicitly motivational writing because her intention in writing this article was for the knowledge it provides alone to serve as a call to action.

The 1998 film The Truman Show depicts a fictional psychological case study examining human perception of free will. This film was chosen because it serves well as an example of the value of knowledge and as a scientific text. Additionally, the use of the medium of film also provides a different perspective from that of written text and in doing so shows that the argument that knowledge is used in scientific texts as a motivating force persists across different mediums and modes. The main character, Truman Burbank, is unaware of the nature of his completely controlled environment, and as a result he believes that every one of his choices guides his future. In reality, however, his future is a scripted series of events. As Truman begins to realize slight irregularities in his environment, Seahaven, and, through them, his lack of legitimate free will, his sanity crumbles, displaying the impact that a perceived lack of free will has on an individual and their mind. The impact that this perception has on a person’s mental stability and control, whether positive or negative, is precisely what this case study explores.

The movie shows the mental transformation of Truman as he is slowly fed hints of the false reality he lives in. As time progresses, he becomes more and more unstable. An instance of this that stands out in particular is in the middle of the movie when Truman tries to “drive to Fiji” with Meryl, his wife. The scene is dominated by Truman’s mental state in a visual and dialogue-filled fashion. In the scene, Truman begins to drive in a dangerous and wild state in a roundabout and starts to scream “AHHHHHH” with his tongue flailing out of his mouth because of his unnerving belief that free will may not be as real as he thought (Weir). The circular and spontaneous path on the roundabout that he follows represents his growing confusion and insanity. Slowly learning that his environment and life are fake is objectively ruining his life. He is unable to tell the difference between what is real or a lie and as a result is constantly on edge trying to find some final piece of evidence in his world that would confirm his thoughts. This slow addition of knowledge that his world is controlled clearly affects his life but in a negative way as opposed to a positive way - which would logically be expected.

However, the influence of knowledge is not only negative. The interaction between Truman and the director of the show provides Truman with the necessary closure he needs to finally step out of his false reality (literally). As he figures out his life has been fabricated since birth, the storm around him begins to fade away, and the “sun” starts to shine again. The serenity of the environment is symbolic of the new clarity Truman possesses. Knowledge provided Truman with the opportunity to decide that the life he has been living for 30 years was not good enough for him. Ignorance may have its benefits at times, but in this case, knowledge of the “show” was the only way for Truman to truly escape it in a positive way.

The foundation of the actual Truman Show, as seen in the film, is based on Truman’s obliviousness to the show he stars in. The director and producers of the fictional show manipulate Truman’s environment to prevent him from discovering the true nature of his life. In order to dissuade Truman from traveling overseas, the show “kills” Truman’s dad in a boating accident. Knowledge is an extremely powerful tool the director keeps away from Truman because of the way Truman is expected to use that knowledge. The ending of the film proves that the director was right to fear this consequence by showing the full impact that the hidden knowledge had.

Both The Really Big One and The Truman Show depict the motivational power knowledge carries. In The Really Big One, Schulz grants the audience a much clearer perception of the calamity of the earthquake. After gaining the same insight and understanding Schulz has, the audience is motivated to escape the earthquake, or at the very least support protective measures against it. Similarly, once Truman is cognizant of his controlled life, he is motivated to discover its parameters and to eventually escape it. Knowledge is a motivating force because it allows us to become more aware and curious of what we learn about, clearly seen in The Truman Show. The comparison of these two unique texts grants us the ability to realize the versatility of knowledge as a motivator. In each individual text, knowledge is used as a motivating force, but this says little about the relation between knowledge and science because neither text makes the case or statement that knowledge is used in scientific writing as a motivator. Bringing these texts together shows how knowledge is equally motivating in a variety of scenarios. One is grounded in reality while the other based in fiction; one is written while the other is visual; one motivates to primarily positive ends while the other’s ends arguably both positive and negative; yet they both use knowledge similarly. These texts together show that knowledge itself acts in a huge spectrum of contexts as a motivating force.

Sources

1. Niccol, Andrew, and Peter Weir. The Truman Show. Hollywood, CA: Paramount Pictures, 1999.

2. Schulz, Kathryn. "The Really Big One." The New Yorker. The New Yorker, 20 July 2015. Web. 11 Nov. 2016.

The Value of Knowledge

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