iRobot
1984
Is this supposed to be a take off on iBook, iPod etc.? Is Apple the new HAL? The director & writer certainly do talk about HAL on the DVD, mostly about the various personalities of Frankenstein's monster, HAL & VIKI. They are all created by men, only to take on a personality of their own, with their own agendas, even feelings, the real, human kind.
Of course this theme has been explored often in film and story from Pinocchio to Millenium Man. The role of man creating something in his own image has always interested us. And, almost always, the thing turns on us.
I discussed the Man vs. Machine theme earlier in this blog (11/8/04) while discussing Bob Zemekis' Polar Express. But this is more like Man Makes Man-like Machine. As we come closer to being able to replicate ourselves, can we doubt that we ourselves have been replicated by something higher, in his/her image? And, have we turned on it, the way our creations turn on us?
In the film we have the war-like robot Trojans, the super-smart feminine and idealistic yet all to robotic VIKI and humans who trust the machines and those who don't. In the human, non-human and probably even inhuman worlds, we all have our roles. What could be less human than the proles and Party members of 1984? Just because you're human, doesn't mean you're a human being. Humanity can be stripped from us, even as we more accurately make machines human.
So, obviously we have the technology to make replicates of ourselves that are physically stronger than what God gave us. We've all heard of bionics. Who's smarter? Last time I checked, we were. No one has been able to make a computer who can beat a chessmaster at the game... if that's the test.
Now, I don't know many human beings who could tell me 10k websites on the internet with the word "Imagine" on them, as Google can. But then again, I doubt any computer could write the song Imagine. Can we imbue robots with feelings? That one has definitely been explored, in all the stories mentioned. But, can we imbue them with creativity? With judgment? With compassion? Has our own creator done that?
Though humanity can be replicated to an extent, the creations, at a certain point develop free will. What is humanity without free will? Nothing. It's a necessity. We had to be imbued with free will in order to be made in God's image. And lots of us make very bad choices with that free will, we've all hurt others, we've all hurt ourselves. But, that's part of the deal. We do have free will, we do have to make choices and we do have to live with them.
People get so scared of that responsibilty sometimes that they just don't exercise it. They wait for things to happen. They don't realize that waiting is a choice, sometimes a very expensive one. Most people I talk to have no real vision for themselves, their own lives, not to mention their town, country, world, or sometimes, even their kids. The one "vision" I see is folks wanting to be rich and give their kids what they think it takes to be rich. But, that's pretty limited, I mean in vision, not in prevalence.
During the tsunami, the animals escaped... almost every single one. Stupid humans went into the retracting sea but the animals got the hell out of dodge. Did God give them sensors he didn't give to us, the ones he supposedly loves the most because he created us in his own image? Why would God do that? Did he expect us to use our wondeful Sensoria sensors... the ones we made with our big brains?
Or did God give us sensors some of us didn't use? If I saw that ocean retract I would have cleared the beach. I never had heard it was a waarning sign of Tsunami's, but I know nature enough to know that a huge movement like that implies something big and ominous. Nature is yin/yang, action/reaction, ebb and flow, what goes in comes back out... what goes around comes around.
Some of us aspire to be more like machines: diligent, efficient, unemotional, these characteristics are among those most richly rewarded in our society. I aspire to be more like God. Original, creative, spontaneous, compassionate. I hope to develop those internal sensors, and help others to see the humanity within. We shouldn't turn our backs on our creator, when we do, we fear, we misjudge, we live less than human lives.
It's a personal challenge for each of us to find that happy medium between the demanding high-tech world and the inner one of spirit, but, as we see in all these films, humanity is demonstrated as love and compasssion.
Is this supposed to be a take off on iBook, iPod etc.? Is Apple the new HAL? The director & writer certainly do talk about HAL on the DVD, mostly about the various personalities of Frankenstein's monster, HAL & VIKI. They are all created by men, only to take on a personality of their own, with their own agendas, even feelings, the real, human kind.
Of course this theme has been explored often in film and story from Pinocchio to Millenium Man. The role of man creating something in his own image has always interested us. And, almost always, the thing turns on us.
I discussed the Man vs. Machine theme earlier in this blog (11/8/04) while discussing Bob Zemekis' Polar Express. But this is more like Man Makes Man-like Machine. As we come closer to being able to replicate ourselves, can we doubt that we ourselves have been replicated by something higher, in his/her image? And, have we turned on it, the way our creations turn on us?
In the film we have the war-like robot Trojans, the super-smart feminine and idealistic yet all to robotic VIKI and humans who trust the machines and those who don't. In the human, non-human and probably even inhuman worlds, we all have our roles. What could be less human than the proles and Party members of 1984? Just because you're human, doesn't mean you're a human being. Humanity can be stripped from us, even as we more accurately make machines human.
So, obviously we have the technology to make replicates of ourselves that are physically stronger than what God gave us. We've all heard of bionics. Who's smarter? Last time I checked, we were. No one has been able to make a computer who can beat a chessmaster at the game... if that's the test.
Now, I don't know many human beings who could tell me 10k websites on the internet with the word "Imagine" on them, as Google can. But then again, I doubt any computer could write the song Imagine. Can we imbue robots with feelings? That one has definitely been explored, in all the stories mentioned. But, can we imbue them with creativity? With judgment? With compassion? Has our own creator done that?
Though humanity can be replicated to an extent, the creations, at a certain point develop free will. What is humanity without free will? Nothing. It's a necessity. We had to be imbued with free will in order to be made in God's image. And lots of us make very bad choices with that free will, we've all hurt others, we've all hurt ourselves. But, that's part of the deal. We do have free will, we do have to make choices and we do have to live with them.
People get so scared of that responsibilty sometimes that they just don't exercise it. They wait for things to happen. They don't realize that waiting is a choice, sometimes a very expensive one. Most people I talk to have no real vision for themselves, their own lives, not to mention their town, country, world, or sometimes, even their kids. The one "vision" I see is folks wanting to be rich and give their kids what they think it takes to be rich. But, that's pretty limited, I mean in vision, not in prevalence.
During the tsunami, the animals escaped... almost every single one. Stupid humans went into the retracting sea but the animals got the hell out of dodge. Did God give them sensors he didn't give to us, the ones he supposedly loves the most because he created us in his own image? Why would God do that? Did he expect us to use our wondeful Sensoria sensors... the ones we made with our big brains?
Or did God give us sensors some of us didn't use? If I saw that ocean retract I would have cleared the beach. I never had heard it was a waarning sign of Tsunami's, but I know nature enough to know that a huge movement like that implies something big and ominous. Nature is yin/yang, action/reaction, ebb and flow, what goes in comes back out... what goes around comes around.
Some of us aspire to be more like machines: diligent, efficient, unemotional, these characteristics are among those most richly rewarded in our society. I aspire to be more like God. Original, creative, spontaneous, compassionate. I hope to develop those internal sensors, and help others to see the humanity within. We shouldn't turn our backs on our creator, when we do, we fear, we misjudge, we live less than human lives.
It's a personal challenge for each of us to find that happy medium between the demanding high-tech world and the inner one of spirit, but, as we see in all these films, humanity is demonstrated as love and compasssion.
posted by Intervision at 5:09 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home