yep...
Well, everything is coming to a close around here. I've got my ticket for home booked, I've got under two weeks left before I get kicked out of the apt, and my dissertation is pretty much done(minus some reference details, a preface, and possibly a couple more meatier issues if I don't get fed up enough and just hand it in). It's all coming down. Actually the dissertation is probably more the reason why I'm posting right now. I'm trying to write the preface right now and I'm havint some issues figuring out what I'm gonna say. I'm not really sure. I guess I should say why I've decided to write what I've written, especially seeing it happens to be, at least compared to my peers, a fairly odd topic. So I thought I'd be honest about my reasoning here then see if any of it is suitable to type up. I'm trying to think also if there's anything that they should know about it before reading it. being the only person who's read it and at the same time being the author I'm not sure I'm the best qualified to say if there's any sort of pretext needed. hmm well lets get going and see what I come up with.
I guess the primary reason I'm writing this is to fulfil the requirements of my degree(IT"S ALMOST DONE!!!). I started off wanting to define the origins of war within the collective character of a given government. From that I moved closer to great man theory, I guess it isn't hard to make the leap from great men to heroes but I don't recall it being so straight forward. Oh that was it! I woke up in the middle of the night and scribbled "Leadership in a Post-Hero society" down on a scrap of paper next to my bed. That's how it happened, but I was still leaning towards Leadership to be the more important part. The entire time I've been trying to work out how it can be made relevant, not leadership, but my dissertation, seeing I happen to have an infinite interest in the impractical and knowing that impractical doesn't always fly... I was then looking at doing a historical look at the shift in leadership qualities through time by examining military leadership writings. but I soon realized that I would need to first define "post-hero society" and naturally what a hero society is and a pre-hero society. It was during this stage of thought that I decided that such a topic was too large for a 15000 word limit and started to look in other directions at how to limit the scope of the paper. It was not before I had started defining what it means to be a hero. Its frrom that definition and my time frame for a post hero society that I came up with the foundings for the rest of the work. The first chapter defines the hero as a being, then the second chapter looks at what the hero as a figure does, then the final chapter discusses the shift of heroes following the first world war and then discusses the impact of that shift on modern militaries of developed nations. It seems now that I've come to define a post-hero society or I could(and think I might have) call the current military a post hero society... I guess the progression to the topic as it is has been a natural logical progression and I'm only guilty of following the lines of my initial thoughts, but that isn't something I'd care to put in the preface... or would I?... hmm also I haven't quite decided on a title. I'm tempted at the moment to put post-hero somewhere in the title, it seems to be a bit of an eye catcher and seeing I have kinda found a post-hero society it might make sense but I'd prefer not to have to re orient the rest of the paper towards the title, mind you it's very possible that my confusion of what it's about is because I don't know exactly where my paper is pointing at the moment...
Tomorrow is the only day that the comupters at the library will be working so I have to get all my referencing done tomorrow, I don't think it's actually gonna be that tough though I'm slowly deciding that I'll have write out a couple quotations that I pulled out of my brain that I can't find the source of... by the way, if you know where Napoleon said "I am a man of peace, it is those who stand before me that make war" or something similar I would be vary greatful, I think it might be in Clausewitz but I can't find it for the life of me.
Still I'm missing the point, why should I write about Heroes? they are important, but why should you care why they're important. I'm not sure my being drunk on sleep wouldn't be the best explanation as to the why. Maybe it's just the facination that seems to follow them... that might be good.
Anyways, I'm gnona have a short nap. Nevermind that it's quarter after 8 I seem to work better at night.
I guess the primary reason I'm writing this is to fulfil the requirements of my degree(IT"S ALMOST DONE!!!). I started off wanting to define the origins of war within the collective character of a given government. From that I moved closer to great man theory, I guess it isn't hard to make the leap from great men to heroes but I don't recall it being so straight forward. Oh that was it! I woke up in the middle of the night and scribbled "Leadership in a Post-Hero society" down on a scrap of paper next to my bed. That's how it happened, but I was still leaning towards Leadership to be the more important part. The entire time I've been trying to work out how it can be made relevant, not leadership, but my dissertation, seeing I happen to have an infinite interest in the impractical and knowing that impractical doesn't always fly... I was then looking at doing a historical look at the shift in leadership qualities through time by examining military leadership writings. but I soon realized that I would need to first define "post-hero society" and naturally what a hero society is and a pre-hero society. It was during this stage of thought that I decided that such a topic was too large for a 15000 word limit and started to look in other directions at how to limit the scope of the paper. It was not before I had started defining what it means to be a hero. Its frrom that definition and my time frame for a post hero society that I came up with the foundings for the rest of the work. The first chapter defines the hero as a being, then the second chapter looks at what the hero as a figure does, then the final chapter discusses the shift of heroes following the first world war and then discusses the impact of that shift on modern militaries of developed nations. It seems now that I've come to define a post-hero society or I could(and think I might have) call the current military a post hero society... I guess the progression to the topic as it is has been a natural logical progression and I'm only guilty of following the lines of my initial thoughts, but that isn't something I'd care to put in the preface... or would I?... hmm also I haven't quite decided on a title. I'm tempted at the moment to put post-hero somewhere in the title, it seems to be a bit of an eye catcher and seeing I have kinda found a post-hero society it might make sense but I'd prefer not to have to re orient the rest of the paper towards the title, mind you it's very possible that my confusion of what it's about is because I don't know exactly where my paper is pointing at the moment...
Tomorrow is the only day that the comupters at the library will be working so I have to get all my referencing done tomorrow, I don't think it's actually gonna be that tough though I'm slowly deciding that I'll have write out a couple quotations that I pulled out of my brain that I can't find the source of... by the way, if you know where Napoleon said "I am a man of peace, it is those who stand before me that make war" or something similar I would be vary greatful, I think it might be in Clausewitz but I can't find it for the life of me.
Still I'm missing the point, why should I write about Heroes? they are important, but why should you care why they're important. I'm not sure my being drunk on sleep wouldn't be the best explanation as to the why. Maybe it's just the facination that seems to follow them... that might be good.
Anyways, I'm gnona have a short nap. Nevermind that it's quarter after 8 I seem to work better at night.
posted by Brett at 7:39 p.m.
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