Today we will speak of “forms,” in the Platonic sense, as it applies to epistemology and Black Mirror but also how the notion might apply to technical writing genres. Your CWR (#15) for the day, and which is due by the end of class: How are instruction manuals as a genre a type of “form” in the sense Plato means?
Feel free to watch the video below for extra context with the reading.
Rhetorics of Black Mirror 
Plato’s form as applied to instruction manuals is there would be no form without a logical ascendance to the next step through understanding of your own environment. An instruction manual is created to promote understanding through a logical step by step process or form. In much the same way we form an educated opinion we must first know what we are talking about and this is accomplished through research, talking with a resident expert on the subject, and then compiling this information logically into a form that everyone can understand. A very close allegory I know of “The Cave” is I once found a litter of kittens under a tree stump in my backyard. I put on a heavy glove reached in and pulled a squirming kitten out of the hole and placed it in the center of the yard. The kitten had no knowledge of “outside” or “sunlight”, naturally it was confused and scared and ran around in circles in distress. Mother cats do not have instruction manuals they teach their young by example when they deem they are ready by instinct. We created instruction manuals to promote understanding through use of forms much like we use formulas in math. In reality Plato’s forms are throughout our culture in almost everything. It’s in the way we speak, how we write, our math, our science(scientific method) and even the way we are taught and learn.
LikeLike
An instruction manual is a mere shadow of the original object. I do not see Instruction Manuals as a form or an idea as referred to by Plato. The instruction manual shows the basic user functions of the product itself, but the subject of the instruction manual is usually much more complex.
Plato’s Theory of Forms addresses forms as the ideas that are represented by shadow shapes that we can see in the physical world. The shapes are mere reflections of the original source: the forms. These reflections hold a small bit of truth from the original but could not possibly, at least in the theory, portray the truth of the original ideas. Those who see and fully understand the forms will be the enlightened while those who just indulge of the shapes are the unwashed masses.
Instruction manuals connect to these ideas because the users who simply follow the guidelines will not, in theory, gain access to the true nuances and the more complex uses of the product the manual describes. The manual is the reflection while the object itself is the form.
In Arkangel, it seems that the basic instructions cover many of the functions of the device including seeing through the child’s eyes, GPS tracking, life signs, and the filter. Throughout the episode, Marie utilizes all of these basic features but quickly sees new uses such as the copying, editing, and tampering of recorded content from her child’s eyes – seen when she crops an image of her daughter’s boyfriend from her memories. That function of the device was never mentioned by Arkangel.
Additionally, the instructions do not cover what would happen with the device once the child gets older. Would the implant be removed? Is it violation of freedoms for young adults or older? What happens when you can see, record, and interact with all the things your child will ever do? What happens when this functions even when the child’s life moves forward into their own adult space?
All these things are left untouched by the manual – the mere reflection of the device.
LikeLike
Instruction manuals may act as a form because of their all-knowing-ness of the product. An instruction manual understands and explains all the ins and outs of the product to create a form of all-knowing. Plato refers to forms as unchanging, perfect concepts or ideals that transcend time and space, where they exist in the Realm of the Forms. A form extends past the physical realm. So, an instruction manual is essentially a form that is unchanging and perfect. The users are not just seeing the shadows of the thing and trying to wing it to figure it out themselves. Instead, the users have something that shares the eternal knowledge of the thing they are using. The users have seen the sun and they know what’s going on because they have all the answers now. Now, the user of the product has seen the light and they can run around sharing their vast, infinite knowledge about this thing they learned all about because they know they have all the answers. The now have the access to knowledge and can share with their fellow “prisoners” about what they have learned out in the sun. An instruction manual is a perfect modern example of the allegory of the cave. It accurately relates the idea of someone or something holding an all access pass to knowledge. They are sharing their knowledge and wisdom, but everyone is like “well, I think I know how to put this together” and they slowly realize they don’t have all the answers until they give in and accept that the instruction manual might actually know more than them.
LikeLike
Seeing as the whole point of an instruction manual is to impart knowledge to those that do not have this knowledge instruction manuals could be thought of as the person who has knowledge and is attempting to get others to believe that they are holding the correct information But because the manual itself is subject to individual interpretation, it becomes tougher to teach knowledge the more that this information gets diluted. The manual is an attempt to teach people how to use or manipulate a tool in the way that it was created for. As such, an instruction manual could be considered as something that could be a part of multiple forms depending on the viewpoint of the individual person involved, they could be seen as truthful knowledge that is leading people to the light of intelligent understanding, but they could also be seen as an attempt to dictate how a person should act or think not unlike the caves prisoners that are being shown the shadows of objects that signify a diluted truth in attempt to control how someone perceives the world. This could show how the idea of an ideal truth could never be obtained because there is no way to share this unadulterated truth with other people because the knowledge of truth will inevitably be stained with the individual biases of the person who has obtained this knowledge.
LikeLike
Plato has a specific type of rhetoric in his epistemologies. Throughout his studies, he believes philosophers and philosopher kings should be the rulers within society. His allegory of the cave represents a fable with a more significant meaning. This allegory describes a story that possibly reflects his life. Where he feels he has a higher knowledge and wisdom, Plato tries to come down to a more common man and teach them, but they reject what he is teaching. Within the allegory, there are three people. The prisoners, the people projecting images to the prisoners, and those outside of the cave with the sun and real objects. Mostly he is trying to rid society of these categories of people. Instead, he desires a community where everyone is enlightened in an intelligible world. To do this, Plato must sacrificially go back down into the cave to try and enlighten those at the bottom. If need be, even theoretically drag them to the enlightenment, which he has reached. This enlightenment is attainable through education and dialog.
Instruction manuals are similar in the way that they are forming objects within text and symbolism. The writers are trying to symbolize and display actual physical objects for the user to put a product together or use. Metaphorically, the manual writers are casting shadows on the users to enlighten them on how to use the actual product in a more efficient and commonly acceptable way. A symbol on a sheet of paper is a form, but not a physically tangible object to assemble. Using the manual, it is displaying symbols, images, and shadows to convey messages. In the process, the writers are trying to enlighten the users to use the object on their own through the technical documentation.
LikeLike
Plato projects a sense of reality in brainwashing to the prisoners. He has an ideal form. It is not reality. Not everyone gets there, but you can get to a certain level of being reached. As we read the collected dialogue of Plato, he also said each point with the follow up of an inferior agreeing him. He backed Plato’s points up. His main philosophy was that in the end, we need to go back and save the prisoners. Even though they are on a different level and don’t understand your level of IQ., Plato thinks his goal should bring everyone together in society. From the perspective of others, some people think Plato was crazy was being a leader of a cult. Sense peoples states of mind are different, many are not on Plato’s side. They chose to not be in contact with people who had a different, or lower, understanding of the world. Plato’s main point was that their is a good in the world with a capital “G.” This is why he has become a popular philosopher. He practiced the study of epistemology. The “good” Plato was referring to was the ideal for justice and the pureness of abstraction. So, in the end, (again) he believed that the higher people of intelligence should help the lower people of intelligence. He believed everyone should be on the same level. This is why he hated democracy.
Plato’s sense of philosophy is similar to a manual, because he wanted to not kill prisoners- but educate them and bring them to the same level. He wanted to cater to them and help them… not exempt them from society. Similarly, manuals help people learn how to do certain tasks or put certain things together. The people who already had the tools and knowledge to figure something out, gave others their instructions so they can complete the same task as well. Everyone is then on the same level. Manuals educate people to know what people of a higher education on a certain task are already informed of. This brings society together and excludes no one- regardless of race, criminal records, or socioeconomic class. I agree with his philosophy, and I could not do many things without manuals. So, thank goodness for the gift of people helping out one another with their niches of knowledge in life. Without this, society would achieve nothing. nothing,
LikeLike
This is weird to connect but I’ll try and it’s not going to make sense. I guess it’s like telling people, or teaching people a specific way of doing things or manipulating things we interact with. Each section of the instruction manual is different from the next, just like the different realities of people. Even though each section is different, it’s all connected for a specific purpose. The instruction manual is there to guide you to the end. It could be the end of a tutorial, putting together an object, etc. that has a specific purpose with a specific end-game goal. Additionally, to get to as many people as possible, the instruction manual teaches people at a faster rate than if someone were to do it without one; and more than one person at a time with the least amount of misinterpretation as possible. So Plato is saying that there is an ideal instruction manual but the interpretation of that manual is left to the individual person despite the audience in which its presented to. The instruction manual can be written for different cultures but it’s really made as a general guideline or rule regardless of the environment. For example, two people from two different backgrounds and whatnot buy the same product. The instruction manual comes with their language and others inside to tell them how to do something. They both put the thing together exactly the same and the end result is the same but they could come out of it with different experiences or interpretations. One could have found the instructions frustrating while the other could have thought them to be easy. *sigh*
Words:275
LikeLike
Plato studies knowledge, epistemology. Knowledge of teaching others and using that knowledge to create something else. In his allegory of the cave, the shadows are another example of what is above the cave.
Instruction manuals are a type of form according to plato’s definition because they are trying to be the perfect or ideal version of something. But as we know, instruction manuals are all different and there are different ways of explaining or displaying information. Instruction manuals are a display of how something must be done or a suggested way of doing things to help make using it easier.
These instruction manuals are shadows of what is seen as perfect or the ideal writing.
Those people in the cave would be the writers of the manuals. They are shadowing the perfect manual. Not everyone thinks or understands the same way so there are millions of different versions of instruction manuals.
There is an ideal form that Plato wants to access. There is an ideal table or beauty or sandwich. In instruction manuals, there is an ideal way of doing something. There is an ideal way of going about something.
There are people that project reality of what is the right thing.
Plato thinks that there should not be a cave with prisoners & everyone should be up on land, not underground in the cave.
There is an intelligible world, the world above the ground, and the visible world, the world within the cave.
Common sense & belief is the lowest of the lows. What seems to be. Everything above the land and the physical world is the highest of the high.
LikeLike
Melissa Prussia
10/29/19
Engl 334W
Plato wrote that the physical forms we see are not as real as the Ideal forms that exist in the mental or spiritual realm. There can be many physical forms of chairs, but what is the true form or idea of ‘chair’ that encompasses all those iterations? A physical form cannot capture the true essence of anything because is will fall short of the ideal form. To Plato, the physical was, by definition, always inferior to the Truth, the Ideal.
A user manual approximates the physical existence of something in order to explain it, usually through photos, illustrations, diagrams, words, and symbols. A static image can be helpful in pointing out specific parts or stages, while a video on YouTube can demonstrate active interaction with the object. Yet written manuals and how-to videos can fail to provide full explanations, due to limitations of the medium as well as fallible creators. Physically interacting with something yourself can sometimes be more helpful. But explanations from knowledgeable people (philosophers) can often enlighten people more than their own explorations. On the other hand, too complicated or too esoteric explanations will be rejected. Representative images can be more familiar and understandable than just written or verbal instructions. Thus, a user manual is like an allegory in that it tries to combine wisdom from those who know with representations, or shadows, that can be understood by those less wise.
Plato would say an ideal user manual exists in the spiritual realm, but technical writers fashion lesser physical iterations of the ideal form. These iterations are all different because they are fashioned for different purposes, to explain different objects, for different audiences, and constrained by different guidelines or laws. There will be many similarities between the iterations because they are striving to mimic the ideal form, but these commonalities can vary between cultures and time periods, making it hard to determine the actual details of the ideal form.
LikeLike
Instructional manuals exist as a form of the best way to operate or understand a piece of technology. However, because of the way Plato conceptualizes forms, it exists as an imperfect way of educating individuals in a way that more easily accesses multiple people, but in Plato’s world at the cost of accuracy and functionality. The struggle to realise the concept of an instruction manual for a product is a layering of forms, as your depiction of the product becomes a form of an existing object, going from a shadow of an idea to a shadow of an object, meaning that we essentially shackle the readers to the wall and show them how the object exists and is meant to be used, rather than work with them directly on the object. Because of this, creating the ideal instruction manual is an impossible task, as any portrayal of an object in the manual becomes merely a shadow, it lacks literal depth and we are incapable of portraying the ideal version of the object in an instruction manual. Ultimately, dealing with each other in regards to objects only deals in forms, because we are incapable of working directly with the same idealized object, and instead can only work with our own form of the idealized object, in its differences and disagreements. Creating an instruction manual for an established and very sterilized object is a much easier task, uniformity means that dealing with forms becomes less of an issue however the idealized perception of an object still exists, making the ideal instruction manual one that manages to help the reader conceptualize the ideal version and utilise it as such.
LikeLike
Plato’s theory of forms consist of four things objects, states of mind, visible things, and common sense belief.Common sense & belief is the lowest of the lows. Plato is at the top and don’t see how they could let the lowest people have a say in anything. Plato thinks that there should not be a cave with prisoners & everyone should be up on land, not underground in the cave. Plato believes there is an ideal way of going about something. Plato practiced epistemology which is the theory of knowledge, especially with regard to its method. Maunaus are shadows from people who think its the best for others.It is what is seen as perfect or the ideal writing.Textbook writers who believe they have access to the form then they try to teach it to the students. Not everyone thinks the same way because some have more experience than others. The interpretation is different from people with different mindsets and egos.Not everyone thinks or understands the same way so there are millions of different versions of instruction manuals. The manual is just made to help people, so ibelive that the manual is good for society. I don’t believe there is an ideal manual that talks about people statuses. People can start off poor (low) and then work their way up to being rich (high).Plato’s forms are throughout our culture in almost everything.The instruction manual shows the basic user functions of the product being sold. Without manuals people really wouldn’t know what to do with the products they can assume but may cause themselves harm or destruction.
LikeLike
Instruction manuals are a form as they are a shadow of an abstract idea. There is, according to Plato, an ideal form of teaching, which we are thinking about the technical manual.
The technical manual wants to teach with as much fidelity as possible. This means that the writer of the text wants the reader to understand, fully, what it is they are trying to communicate. However, the technical manual is a form. This means that the form is ultimately beholden to an interpretation. It is unable to be an absolute truth to all people as it is merely a shadow of something real. The writer of the manual has access to what they believe is the truth. The reader of the manual only has access to manual’s use of rhetoric where it is flimsy. The writer has access to the “truth” of form while the reader has the “shadow” of the form.
The technical writing document, to me, is a form concerned with education. It wants to educate readers as best as it can to prevent practical issue. So, it is somewhat difficult and, in some cases, seemingly impossible. The manual is a form that is using abstract concepts and rhetoric to educate the reader in the matter of the tangible and objective. So, it is the manuals job to portray these concepts with as little interpretation as possible. Plato would likely think this is impossible, but technical writers must do it anyway. It is a powerful challenge.
LikeLike
I feel as though instruction manuals, or writing an instruction manual, fall into Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave,” because there are multiple kinds and different versions of instruction manuals. The purpose of instruction manuals is to have the least amount of interpretation as possible. There is really no ideal instruction manual because all people think, comprehend, and execute things differently. However, there are things that are similar between all instruction manuals that make them fall into their own genre. Characteristics of the “ideal” instruction manual such as title page, table on contents, visuals, and a common goal: to help the user accomplish the task at hand or to inform them on how a product is used. There are certain levels of manuals. The “ideal” (which may not exactly exist but one that works for the majority), the mediocre ones that leave people on the internet needing more information, and then very basic ones that are broad and may or may not get the job done, again leaving people surfing the web for answers. In a way I feel as though it is similar to types of references, like when something is a primary or secondary source when referencing things for a paper. An instruction manual written by an expert on the product, will be much better than a manual written by someone who has only used the product once or twice. I feel as though it ties back to Plato’s concept of being educated and having knowledge is what is considered to be ideal as opposed to falling “prisoner” to a manual being written by a person that does understand a product.
LikeLike