Discovery Consists of Seeing What Everybody Has Seen and Thinking What Nobody Has Thought.” Albert Von Sezent-Gyorgyi, the Scientist Speculates

“Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought.” Albert von Sezent-Gyorgyi, The Scientist Speculates.

1.

Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought, this idea is indicated through Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 and The Imitation Game. Fahrenheit 451 is a dystopian science fiction which is written by Bradbury during the Cold War. It tells a story of how Montag, a fireman who burns book, discovers the world and finally starts his road of revolting. The Imitation Game is directed by Motern. It is about the hidden history in World War II. The two texts convey the notion of discovery during use of either language or film techniques.

Firstly, in Fahrenheit 451, when Montag talks to Clarisse for the second time, Clarisse says: “…You’re not like the others…When I said something about the moon, you looked at the moon…The others would never do that”. The composer uses contrast to show that Montag and other firemen see that same thing but think differently. Montag then feels “his body divide itself into a hotness and coldness, a softness and a hardness, a trembling and a not trembling”, the antithesis used here shows Montag’s struggling in his mind, which indicates that Montag notices there is not love between him and his wife. Montag thanks differently from other firemen and his different thinking leads him to new discovery, which proves the idea that discovery can be caused by thinking in different ways.

Also in Fahrenheit 451, captain Beatty, Mrs. Bowles and Montag’s different opinions of books show the idea. Beatty keeps saying “the books say nothing”, which is a use of extended metaphor. The composer uses metaphor to describe books as knowledge; therefore, “the books say nothing” is a use of extended metaphor meaning that Beatty thinks books give no knowledge to people but figments. Mrs. Bowles says “poetry and tears, poetry and suicide and crying and awful feelings, poetry and sickness”. This is a use of emotive language. The composer uses a sequence of words with negative meaning here to show Mrs. Bowles’ hatred of books. Differently, Montag thinks books can help him. He thinks “I’m numb…When did the numbness really begin in my face...The numbness will go away”, the repetition of numbness shows a process from self-discovering to believing that books can help him find his “old face and old hands”. Both Montag and Beatty has read books but they think differently; therefore, Beatty consists his old way but Montag chooses to continue reading and eventually discoveries the world.

The film The Imitation Game shows the idea as well. In the film, the protagonist, Alan, meets a bottleneck in his work of decoding the Germany army’s secret message. When Alan and his group are having a rest, what a woman talks about his Germany friend attracts Alan’s attention while everyone else just ignore it. In that scene, the framing is that everyone around Alan is talking and having fun but Alan is thinking. It emphasizes the difference between Alan and others. The lighting is bright, which suggests a sense of hope and success. It’s a close shot, which focuses on Alan’s face showing his facial expression, which indicates that he is thinking something other hasn’t thought. The sound is in fast rhythm, it suggests that Alan is going to discover something important. With the information from the woman, Alan finally works out the Germany army’s code. Everyone hears what the woman says, but only Alan thinks it in a brilliant way and makes discovery. This scene supports the idea that discovery consists of seeing what everybody sees but thinking differently.