Choose from one of the following prompts:

1) Why is Carl Sagan so lonely? (Note that you would do well to discuss the problem of scientific transcendence and reentry into the immanent world if you choose this one.)

2) Is there a reciprocal relationship between violence and eroticism—"That is to say, is a thoroughly eroticized society less violent and a thoroughly violent society less erotic?"

350 words minimum; due midnight before class on 26 October.