Liking What You See: A Documentary
- Main character of story.
- Daughter of Martin and Rachel.
- Got her Calli reversed.
- She was in a relationship with Garret.
- Father of Tamera.
- Husband to Rachel.
- Believes that Calli is overall beneficial.
- Quote from Martin, “Becoming preoccupied with how you look is just one way to be crushed, and anything that can relieve that pressure is a good thing, in my opinion.” (Chiang pg. 4).
- Professor of comparative literature at Pempleton
- Interviewed about his perspective on calli
- Believes that Calli is not beneficial for society
- Quote from Daniel, "This is just the latest example of political correctness run amok. The people advocating calli are well-intentioned, but what they’re doing is infantilizing us. The very notion that beauty is something we need to be protected from is insulting." (Chiang pg. 16).
- Mother of Tamera.
- Married to Martin.
- Believes that Calli is beneficial for society.
- Quote from Rachel “Some girls get the message that they can get through life relying on their looks, and then they never develop their minds. I wanted to keep Tamera away from that sort of influence.” (Chiang pg. 4).
Calliagnosia
- Main topic in story
- Type of technology used for humans.
- Calli is short of calliagnosia.
- Calli is used to block beauty and attractiveness in others.
- Calli can be reversed in humans.
- Used to bring more eqaulity among people.
Transhumanism - technology aiding humanity.
- Calliagnosia is aiding in the ability to stop humans detect beauty in others.
- Calli also aids in bringing equality among people by making everyone not see beauty.
Utopia - an imagined place or state of things in which everything is perfect.
- Calliagnosia is trying to make the world a better place by making everyone equal in beauty.
- Calli doesn't make one person more beautiful than the other.
Technology and the body - technology used in the human body to enhance the human body.
- Calli used in humans eyes to block beauty.
- Calli can be reversed.
Author Background:
Ted Chiang
- Ted Chiang - Author of Liking what You See: A Documentary
- Born on October 20, 1967 in New York.
- Graduated from Brown University
- Liking What You See was published in 2002
- Won 10 awards science fiction awards for his works.
Liking What You See: A Documentary by Ted Chiang
Study Guide