Synthesis between West World and the first 30 minutes of Blade Runner

         So, as the title suggests I've only watched a bit of blade runner, but given the fact I'm neck deep in the HBO show West World (The prospect of a 2nd season is the only thing that has kept my faith in humanity over the last year), I think I can provide at least a semi-intelligent opinion on the ethics of human like and possibly sentient androids.

To get straight to the point, the thing that is really interesting about the seemingly universally acknowledged fear of highly intelligent machines, is that our fear is not really of the machine like qualities, but rather their perceptibly human-like characteristics. Generally, the things we fear in machines are things like empathy, sentience, self-preservation, vengeance, and personal sovereignty. I have two theories that could explain why we have such a fundamental fear of man-like machines.  

Theory 1: To allow machines to posess these qualities would put humans in a state of moral murkiness or ambiguity based on the often inhumane treatment of these machines
      Evidence by how customers treat the hosts in West World. They purge their unacceptable behaviors because they believe, or at least want to believe, that hosts are non sentient which excuses those behaviors.

Theory 1b: A less forgiving addition to theory 1 is that the reason behind humans not wanting to infringe on humane rights of man-like machines because they fear that machines with superior abilities would then try to defend their humanity through violence.
     ie the entire plot of Blade Runner

Theory 2: Man made machines will never be identical to humans, but will instead be so incredibly similar that it would unsettling or creepy to humans. Humans avoid "creepy" things because they are an unknown quantity; should we fear or accept? - we just don't know. The biologically ingrained reaction to the unknown is fear; think Hal's macabre voice. 
     Think about the robot vs human test in Blade Runner; while it is 100% accurate at predicting the classification of the examined, if the only thing separating a man and an advanced robot a flash of non-empathy at a single image, is the difference between man and machine even significant? Who knows? .. eerie. 
  

The End of the X-Files Season 3 - The light at the end of the tunnel

      Towards the end of the X-Files season 3 I could really see the show morphing into the style it would be recognized for today. There was much more of a narrative on the individual character and their relationships, both with main characters and non-main characters. Episode 20 also really latched on to the theme of extra-terrestrial, and made the the main conflict of the show very clear. It was almost like the show finally focused and made a decision of what it wanted to be. Before, the show created show much confusion will all the different types of sci fi, there was a few episodes dealing with religion, ghosts, mutated disease, fortune tellers, and even horoscopes, it was a bit overwhelming.
    I haven't watched season 1 or 2, but I do know it was even more monster of the week and very well could have ended with Mulder's death at the the end. It seems like season 3 was literally and figuratively a Lazarus season. So I am impressed with how they eventually decided to direct the show.
    I read a few summaries and I can see how some of the seemingly unconnected aspects of the show connect, so maybe it's a matter of marathoning through the seasons. It was pretty clever how they make it so the men from that secret government society and the aliens that use the "black sludge" to sort of be working together but also not. It 's hard to place blame on either group because they both did very terrible things, the circumstances of the relations are also very reminiscent of the cold-war. Either way, Mulder did have the right to investigate and be suspicious, the way they were conducting this whole ordeal was pretty unethical.
   Also reading into Mulder's backstory I can understand why he almost intuitively knows if there is some paranormal or extraterrestrial happenings. His biggest flaw though is that he can let his emotions, bias, and paranoia get in the way of his reasoning. He can also be selective with what evidence he pays attention to, even if it confirms supernatural intervention, if it could change the perception of someone he cares about. Like when Skinner is accused of murder for example. I like to see vulnerability in characters, so I like this character development. 

X-files Season 3: mostly meh with a side of "that's kinda cool"

          I've watched most of Season 3 of the x-files and so far it has really challenged my idea of what I consider to be science fiction. Most of the cases go unsolved as far as how exactly the murders happen. They can usually find out who is guilty, except for the cases that seem like there is a large group conspiracy, but the means usually go unexplained. My idea of pure science fiction is that every thing, no matter how wild, has some sort of explanation or clue. This is my main issue with the show, the endings are so vague that I really have trouble coming up with a unique analysis or hypothesis. I really do like how Scully and Mulder act as each other's foil, they are both very intelligent, but show contrast each other well as one is a skeptic and the other is a believer of all things paranormal. I can also appreciate the originality of the show. It's possible that I find the show a little bland is that I have seen so many newer shows that have a similar, but improved style, but I guess I should owe that to the shows success.

        The one episode that I really did like, because it did leave alot of room for analysis and matched up with on of the over arching themes of the show was episode 20: From Outerspace. The plot is that there are 2 - 3 people that could possibly been abducted by aliens, but there is also an equal amount of evidence that it was government conspiracy or even a delusion aided by drugs or psychosis. The only thing you can say is that something spooky happened to everyone, Mulder and Scully included. The ending remark made by the honorary narrator was that we are all alone in our perception. This made me think of all of the other sci-fi we have read that had the same idea, The Frozen Journey stuck out most in my mind as being a dead ringer for this psychological sci-fi. Mulder, which from my perspective seemed to be a weaker less developed charcter in comparison to Scully, was described as being one step away from insanity. This was maybe why I perceived him as being weaker in comparison to Scully, he is very willing to believe and accept the unexplainable and often for emotional reasons. I wonder if this is due somewhat to his damaged childhood, perhaps the make - believe is easier for him to accept because it's less absolute and damning.

      Unfortunately we only had enough time to watch season 3, I will probably watch some other seasons, both earlier and later to see if the more complete character development will help me appreciate the more "monster of the week" episodes. Perhaps there was a story line in there that I was just totally missing due to lack of background info.

     
       

Why Star Trek didn't totally pigeonhole masculinity, and other thoughts ...

  I really enjoyed Star Trek. Not just because of the flashy costumes and the retro sets. While it's hard to compare to the diversity of characters we expect now a days, I would have to say they did a pretty great job ( plus lets not forget the lack of diversity we have in media today - a topic for another time).  While the show is scewed in favor of Kirk's personality, which can actually be fun because it's nice and familiar to see the classic hero win, they also include other forms of masculinity into their character base.
   First of all, Spock, definitely a winning character for viewers that might identify with a type of masculinity that isn't defined by physical strength and a leading confidence (that can edge on being too much). I like how they present spock as an intellectual bad ass rather than a pathetic nerd who didn;t deserve respect. It's refreshing when you consider an American show created him; America being a country that is well known for it's tendency to be anti-intellectualism. Of course they had to make him Alien, I mean who do you know who could calculate the exact number of tribble spawn in a few seconds? While he may be a hyperbole of the now super trendy nerd guy, I still say he's a very welcome character. Spock can be viewed be pretty distant from human emotion, which could stereotype intellectual people as unfeeling. In my opinion,  Spock isn't exactly without emotion, as he tries to surpress emotions that he find to be extraneous (vulcans are very good at managing their physical and mental processes). He still shows loyalty and companionship to his fellow crew members, it's just in his own way. Instead of throwing blows at the bar, he likes to drop crushing logic and knowledge.
 

Number 1 fav character is definitely Chekov. First of all he's a Russian on a space mission with mostly Americans, which is pretty funny and daring considering the then current space race and Cold War with the russians. But I also like how the show allowed Chekov to be his own individual. He's allowed to be his own person. He doesn't have to be a flag waving, stoic, red blooded American to be accepted by his crew. They make him into a young and quirky, but capable and respected navigator. I think it's very cool of the show to include a masculine figure that younger audiences could appreciate.

I was inspired

https://youtu.be/HU2ftCitvyQ

Lucid Dreaming and Anxiety - Frozen Journey

Have you ever gone to sleep after having a particularly emotional day? What about if you were expecting a particularly impactful tomorrow? Think about your dreams. Were they poignant and fixated on a single fear, exhilarant, or idea? If the dream became to much, you might try to wake up. But Imagine if it was a dream that for all intents and purposes could continue indefinitely. Wouldn't you prefer something a little more mundane?

It is understandable why the main character would choose to relive the same experience repeatedly for most of his trip, I'm sure that whole psychoanalysis thing was not comfortable. Most of us agree that at the end he actually does leave the ship, due to the fact that he we see his unusual actions from the perspective of his ex-wife, I think we were probably meant to think so.

For argument's sake let's say that the main character was still being fed the same manufactured "dream", even at the end. If the dream suddenly became more complex, diverse and suspiciously like reality from the main character's pov, should we assume he has woken up? Since this story showed how tricky and "mind bending" the concept of perception is, I think we could just as easily conclude that his mind had adapted to his state and fabricated a super convincing reality outside of the ship's control. I also want to bring the idea of lucid dreaming into this. Lucid dreaming seems to happen when a person is in a near meditative state. When a person, through practice, is able to let go of some of their anxieties or stressors during their dreams, they often report being able to change the dreams to their liking. Perhaps after years of the same "dream" he could become able to control it.

    I don't think Philip K. Dick was trying to make this point at the end, it was probably more along the lines of how the main characters mind was so conditioned to the "dreams". However, I just wanted to add something to the giant basket of things that makes the distinguished line between reality and false perception blurrier.

Hal's Motives

    

  Before I start writing about the subplot of Jupiter Mission, I'd like to state my position on the whole alien obelisk thing. I can't find any evidence in the movie to show that obelisks are for sure alien antennae devices or information messengers meant to advance humans; either way, it is pretty obvious that they are a) of mysterious alien origin and b) is highly involved in human advancement and discovery/ curiosity, whether that is in physical or metaphorical form. It also seems that the obelisk at least inspired or caused the evolution of modern day humans from the more animal-like prehistoric version. 
     Now to bring HAL into the equation, he is an AI that seems like the pinnacle of human advancement. Cerebrally speaking, he seems very similar to humans, in that he can reason, wonder, and feel. The few differences are that he can process even better than a human, but is still created to serve humans; although he eventually begins to question them. Because of this and the revelation at the end of his sentence, I have two theories behind Hal's odd lashing out towards the crew of Discovery One.
      Number 1: Hal seems to be far superior than humans as far as cognitive intelligence and likely figured out that aliens had something to do with thier motivation to explore farther into space from the top secret tape stored in his hard drive. While Hal may have been highly intelligence in other areas, he seemed to be immature as far as emotional or spiritual intelligence, which is possibly why he responded with fear and anger (both base emotions) at the unknown instead of the more human- like reactions of curiosity and risk taking. This is shown when Hal shows distrust towards the mission, a non-understanding of his emotions and reactions after trying to kill the crew members ("I am afraid, I am afraid"). This is the most distinct difference between humans and Hal, he does not show any interest in exploration; in his defense he had no choice but to venture into the unknown, which could understandably cause fear and frusturation (allthough, who's to say that man had any choice either) 
     Number 2: Similar to theory 1 in how Hal learns about the aliens. However in this theory, Hal's lashing out it caused by his vindictive personal interest. Perhaps, through Hal's superior database and intelligence, he figured that these alien obelisks had something to do with human advancment and feared that by venturing farther out humans would surpass machine once again in superiority. Maybe, Hal was so advanced that he experienced feelings of jealously and power hunger, and was planning all along to overthrow humans. (this theory is the most out there, but considering that Kubrick was probably on wicked acid, it's not as wierd as it could be)