Still from the film. Step five of a video induction.
Still from the film. Silver. A child was brought up at his good mother's side an hundred years, an utter simpleton, playing childishly in his own home. But when they were full grown and were come to the full measure of their prime, they lived only a little time in sorrow because of their foolishness.
Still from the film. Bronze. Great was their strength and unconquerable the arms which grew from their shoulders on their strong limbs.
You may have seen a video camera before, or maybe even used one. Some people used to refer to the camera as "the mechanical eye", which is an interesting turn of phrase because it suggests that a machine could have the wherewithal to see, and perhaps ponder the world around it.
And normally a camera uses its seeing eye to project a view outwards, into the world, which is then captured as light on a tape, or memory device. But sometimes, a camera can also look inwards, into itself. And the words inspection, circumspection, and introspection all share a common root - which comes from the Latin "specere", which is the same origin of the word "spectacle". Another way to say this would be that the more we "look" (which comes from the Germanic heritage of the language) the more we may "see".
And while the word "inspection" has a scientific, authoritative sound to it, the word "gaze" may sound a bit more abrupt, or harsh perhaps, don't you think? And maybe that's because one word suggests purpose, a reason for looking... while the other word sounds a bit like looking for the sake of it, or just staring for no good reason. But it may also be that different words have different sources, origins, and I wouldn't want to judge one place of origin as being better or worse than another. Just different perhaps.
When the camera blinks, it says CLOCK SET.
It's a bit like when you wake up in the morning, or after a nap, and stretch that body and rub those eyes. This time, you don't have to do anything in particular, but you may be most comfortable just closing those eyes whenever you feel like it.
