Back to the Future
October 24, 2004
>anything we’ve studied in class
When is it okay to build a robot that exactly replicates a human (personalizing its features, expressions, feelings, thoughts and actions)? What are the restrictions to cloning or creating life from scratch? In Simulacra and Simulations, Baudrillard defines and analyses ideas related to assimilations and representations. Here, he demonstrates the many ways in which these ideas are often interchanged and in fact are quite different. These are terms that should appear familiar in the studying of abstract and futuristic recreations. Assimilation is a recreation of something and turning it into an artificial reality, like the themes captured in rides at Disneyland. In this situation these made up Disney themes are recreated and transformed into a “fake” reality. When applying this term to futuristic science fiction ideas of robots and humans coexisting there is the sense that we have taken something fake and made it a part of reality.
Is it truly possible to take artificial parts and make something organic? No. Once something is synthetic it will always remain so. Regardless of how close of a representation it is it can never fully become the real and original thing. Humans and technology are limited to imitations only. The idea of advanced technology in our future world is common in science fiction. Sometimes it can be very useful; but, in dealing with machinery, it is known that there will always be technical errors. So can we rely on this technology to safely clone humans or create human-like robots to live with us? Should we risk relying on the known faulty system to form a world better than necessary? Perfection is something impossible to achieve. Like the limitations in technological replications of living things, the limitation of perfection is near perfection; these things cannot be wholly achieved.
For the sake of today’s beautiful, yet flawed world, such drastic measures should not be taken to assimilate this utopia. Otherwise, it would be like diving head first into an empty pool.
Sunday, October 24, 2004
Thursday, October 21, 2004
R.U.R
R.U.R.
October 21, 2004
>Blog/response - RUR
The play R.U.R is sweet and short. Done in only three small acts, it somehow manages to possess an incredible amount of detail and strength in its ideas of the future, and human relations with technology advancement. Its amazingly captive story makes the audience forget about the real world. One theme that is portrayed throughout the play is perfectionism and the internal human desire to live in a utopia. The idea introducing robots into the world, created to help and live among humans is common in science fiction films such as, The Terminator series (starring our governor) and I, Robot (starring Will Smith –based on the writings of Isaac Asimov).
Rossum’s Universal Robots is a company that industrializes a robot created primarily to serve humans and replace jobs requiring manual labor. It began with an old Rossum, who, with the life originating substance in a test tube was able to create “life” without soul. After his death, young Rossum continues the job and takes the previously developed information and puts it to use. In order to apply these life forces to the world he must first consider the points needed to make robots that humans can benefit from while eliminating as many possible complications. However human error is something unavoidable and is the leading reason why a utopia with a civilization of natural humans is impossible.
Though the characters in R.U.R had the sole intention to fix global issues such as world hunger, money complications and end manual labor for humans, they still failed and brought the world to a state of near human extinction.
The Terminator series, a well known collection of movies about robots from the future (created by humans over time) that return to the modern times to annihilate the one who saves human race. In I, Robot we are given a glimpse of what our future may be if we continue to rely on technology everyday. It is the story of a detective who must save the human race from the robots. The robots were programmed to abide by certain rules that assure the safety and automatic authority of humans.
There is always a flaw (human error) when it comes to perfection. Nothing can ever be perfect, and these movies (like the play) the intention of robot production by humans backfires resulting in our own destruction or endangerment.
October 21, 2004
>Blog/response - RUR
The play R.U.R is sweet and short. Done in only three small acts, it somehow manages to possess an incredible amount of detail and strength in its ideas of the future, and human relations with technology advancement. Its amazingly captive story makes the audience forget about the real world. One theme that is portrayed throughout the play is perfectionism and the internal human desire to live in a utopia. The idea introducing robots into the world, created to help and live among humans is common in science fiction films such as, The Terminator series (starring our governor) and I, Robot (starring Will Smith –based on the writings of Isaac Asimov).
Rossum’s Universal Robots is a company that industrializes a robot created primarily to serve humans and replace jobs requiring manual labor. It began with an old Rossum, who, with the life originating substance in a test tube was able to create “life” without soul. After his death, young Rossum continues the job and takes the previously developed information and puts it to use. In order to apply these life forces to the world he must first consider the points needed to make robots that humans can benefit from while eliminating as many possible complications. However human error is something unavoidable and is the leading reason why a utopia with a civilization of natural humans is impossible.
Though the characters in R.U.R had the sole intention to fix global issues such as world hunger, money complications and end manual labor for humans, they still failed and brought the world to a state of near human extinction.
The Terminator series, a well known collection of movies about robots from the future (created by humans over time) that return to the modern times to annihilate the one who saves human race. In I, Robot we are given a glimpse of what our future may be if we continue to rely on technology everyday. It is the story of a detective who must save the human race from the robots. The robots were programmed to abide by certain rules that assure the safety and automatic authority of humans.
There is always a flaw (human error) when it comes to perfection. Nothing can ever be perfect, and these movies (like the play) the intention of robot production by humans backfires resulting in our own destruction or endangerment.
Wednesday, October 13, 2004
Love is War
Love Is War
October 10, 2004
> Love, a theme evident in Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein, is a part of life that is nearly impossible to ignore.
Love is a madness that possesses the mind than can create delusions of absolute happiness or manic depression. In Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein, Dr. Frankenstein shows the reaction of a wealthy genius that has unfortunately been subject to the losses of his teacher, his mother, his nephew, a lady family friend, and his wife. Though he lived an innocent life filled with much love and a child-like curiosity, there is no question that anyone who has to grieve over this obscure number of deaths in such a short time period should go somewhat insane.
Each time a loved one dies, Dr. Frankenstein’s lunacy grows. He begins to feel that if possible people shouldn’t have to put up with death. Out of his love for his professor, Frankenstein decides to continue his teachers “research project” and succeeds in creating life from death. However, the works of Frankenstein’s professor had remained idle for a reason. The being created by Dr. Frankenstein was filled with confusion; because it was automatically feared and rejected for its appearance and violent behavior, it had seemingly innate qualities of rage and anger which eventually led it to become uncontrollable. Both the being and Dr. Frankenstein desire a life of happiness.
This story is almost just how the love of one man, like Dr. Frankenstein, can be the cause of an incredibly unlucky chain reaction. Once he creates the being, one by one, the people he loves die, and because of those deaths, more are killed. All the confusion and sadness that inherit the once pleasant life of Dr. Frankenstein are proof that love, like the sad case of Frankenstein’s love, can be a plague that kills everything connected to it and be the origin of much paranoia.
October 10, 2004
> Love, a theme evident in Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein, is a part of life that is nearly impossible to ignore.
Love is a madness that possesses the mind than can create delusions of absolute happiness or manic depression. In Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein, Dr. Frankenstein shows the reaction of a wealthy genius that has unfortunately been subject to the losses of his teacher, his mother, his nephew, a lady family friend, and his wife. Though he lived an innocent life filled with much love and a child-like curiosity, there is no question that anyone who has to grieve over this obscure number of deaths in such a short time period should go somewhat insane.
Each time a loved one dies, Dr. Frankenstein’s lunacy grows. He begins to feel that if possible people shouldn’t have to put up with death. Out of his love for his professor, Frankenstein decides to continue his teachers “research project” and succeeds in creating life from death. However, the works of Frankenstein’s professor had remained idle for a reason. The being created by Dr. Frankenstein was filled with confusion; because it was automatically feared and rejected for its appearance and violent behavior, it had seemingly innate qualities of rage and anger which eventually led it to become uncontrollable. Both the being and Dr. Frankenstein desire a life of happiness.
This story is almost just how the love of one man, like Dr. Frankenstein, can be the cause of an incredibly unlucky chain reaction. Once he creates the being, one by one, the people he loves die, and because of those deaths, more are killed. All the confusion and sadness that inherit the once pleasant life of Dr. Frankenstein are proof that love, like the sad case of Frankenstein’s love, can be a plague that kills everything connected to it and be the origin of much paranoia.
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