Monthly Archives: February 2020

Time to dip my toe into the realm of music inspired by science fiction. Blue Oyster Cult has a vast library of SF themed songs; the above “Sole Survivor” describes the last human of a catastrophe in the distant future. It is featured because it is my favorite sounding song of their SF inclinated songs, others include but are not limited to: “Veteran of the Psychic Wars,” “Astrology,” “E.T.I. (Extraterrestrial Intelligence).”

They also have a lot of songs inspired by fantasy genres, such as “Godzilla” and “Joan Crawford.”

A great movie, some less stressful science fiction.

Virtual Reality: Death to the Frontier or Another Tool?

In our class reading of Lino Aldani’s “Goodnight, Sophie” depicted a harsh view of a dystopian world. However, the population was more than living in a cozy catastrophe; all but a few people were convinced they lived in a utopia. In this short story, pornographic action movies seem to big the biggest demand. People are not born through sex and pregnancy, but rather through test tubes and artificial lab procedures. Society itself seems to place emphasis on lust over love, and the story demonstrates how people are fine with this bleak reality without genuine socialization as long as they have a gripping enough virtual reality to escape too.

However, in our world many researchers see virtual reality as a way to train and condition people for the realities of the world. Many see it as a tool to bridge the gap between cultures, as the VR will help people be more empathetic. It is already used to train pilots and soldiers in various scenarios, and some people believe it could be used to help children how to combat bullying at school. At Bowdoin I have been assigned to use VR to explore ancient Rome, so many professors would also say it is a helpful learning tool. Many news outlets are also quick to pounce on the possibilites of VR outside of its current primarily gaming market:

“Piotr Łój, Founder of the Virtual Dream Project, is traveling from Poland to share how he’s using virtual reality to aid the relief of young oncology patients. ‘VR is one of the most crucial issues of social development in our time as it touches every crisis of the modern world. Escapism, alter-ego, depression, anti-social behavior, porn addiction, gaming addiction, suicide and suicide prevention, a lack of empathy for others and the dehumanization of society. In all of these cases VR has great impact potential.'” (https://www.forbes.com/sites/charliefink/2017/11/08/is-it-possible-to-benefit-society-with-virtual-reality/#53717b778640)

It makes me curious to see the first five things (as well as many at the end of the list) on Piotr’s list are the exact evils Aldani was concerned about. I wish the article clarified what he meant by having a great impact potential. The overall positive tone of the article, which emphasizes greater community building and social betterment, makes me believe that he beleives VR can overcome the issues of escapism, alter-ego, depression, porn addiction, etc. Although the practical teaching and clinical usage of VR systems may be able to help these issues, it needs to be drastically noted that VR can also become the root of these problems if abused on the market.

Porn addiction could become more and more drastic as participants could feel completely invloved as the technology becomes more realistic and encompasses all the senses. Dehumanization could run rampant as people disregard the hardships of other because it is so easy to live in one’s own world. Escapism could only become more enveloping as people can truly start to live other lives.

So what becomes of the American, and overall human, notion of the frontier when the frontier is no longer in the real world? When the artificial existence becomes more adventurous and convenient then the real experience, what will drive people to make the world a better place? The novel Ready Player One by Ernest Cline tackles this issue is the scariest way possible: writing a novel where no one really does care about the world. Whether this was intentional or not, I do not know. But the grim world of trailer park continents is not a reality anyone would want to live in.

That being said, even the poorest people have access the vast Virtual Reality web in this novel. Just about everyone has stopped trying to fix the real world, and instead battles occur in the virtual for ownership of the subscription/selling rights to the VR existence. The protagonists’ frontier is not the real world, where the true frontier is humanity, but rather in the game world. If we are not careful to regulate how we develop virtual reality, and how we allow ourselves to indulge in it, I see this being the one true way humanity reaches its apocalypse: not a world on fire, but one where we forget it even exists.

Continue reading →

Master Chief and Cortana (Halo 4, US 2012)

Master Chief (super soldier) and Cortana (A.I.) from the Halo series of XBOX games represent the near perfect integration of artificial intelligence directly into the human mind. The human mind retains its own identity and thoughts, while the A.I. has its separate consciousness that gives instant support when needed.Is this the best way to integrate A.I., our should it not have an identity of its own?

Space as the New American Frontier

Ingrained into the culture of the United States is a sense of the frontier. It has become one of the most recognizable traits of our cultural identity. Pushing westward was symbolic of our push into unknown cultural territory as well. Brutal and violent, the Western frontier was a wasteland where the rugged individual would thrive, and in this environment true change could occur. This is symbolic of America’s violent past, but out of that violence a truly beautiful society can be built. The US is always pushing the understanding of science and the range of human achievement. The notion of manifest destiny permeated into American minds, and the frontier was where the dreams would be realized.

The western frontier is settled, yet these desires live on. Science fiction is one avenue where these age old ideals can live on. Space is the infinite frontier, representative of the infinite possibilities of human betterment. Science fiction stories adopt many visual styles (Roland from King’s the The Dark Tower Series and the Mandalorian from Disney’s The Mandalorian– above) from traditional westerns. Clothing and setting are often modeled after the old media, but even more so are the characters. The lone man overcoming nature, evil, and himself has become a sort of cliche. However, this character model runs parallel to an optimistic view of humanity as a whole: a people who can overcome.

Star Trek (Starship Enterprise above) is very much a product of the American desire for the frontier. The whole show is a love letter to humanity’s ability to overcome. Having already solved war, famine, and class strife, the franchise shows new obstacles will always present themselves to be overcome. And no character may represent this idea more than the man in the chair James Tiberius Kirk (below). Kirk is often criticized for being rash, headstrong, and too much of a womanizer. However, the core of his being is a noble idea that summarizes the attitude of humanity throughout all time: “I do not believe in no win scenarios.”

Kirk says this line when explaining how he beat an unwinnable test at Starfleet Academy, which doubled as his defense for hacking into the computer to change the conditions of the test. Like the western frontier and the frontier of space, this statement represents the lengths humanity will go to progress and eventually “win” (whatever that may be). Kirk is a man who can best aliens, gods, and space itself with all its mysteries. He does so with intuition and strength, and he carries a set of 60’s American democratic values wherever he goes. His brand of romantic (to be noted he was objectifying towards women- he was written in a different time) and mythical heroism is cemented in traditional male heroism. His charisma and attitude reflect those of the cowboy western media. His persona embodies the human spirit to dive head first into unknown reaches without looking back, and somehow scrape his way through to the other side.

Kirk and Star Trek are just one obvious example of the human desire to expand the frontier. It is in our media because it it in our minds. JFK gave the reason the US would go to the moon: “because it is hard.” Expanding human understanding, upholding the human desire of betterment, will always be a staple of who we are. And the American West which reflects these ideals will not be the last genre to capture it: Science Fiction shall carry this torch as well.

February 16, 2020

Starship Enterprise approaching Starbase Yorktown (Star Trek Beyond, US 2016)

Gene Roddenberry popularized the vision of a realistic Utopian future for humanity. Searching the cosmos, his characters portray a heightened sense of optimism and rugged individualism in the face of alien adversity.

The Rise of Wetware: Innovative Idea or Haunting Horror

I was first exposed to the idea of wetware – bacterial/organic computers – when reading David Wong’s John Dies at the End (US, 2012), and only later did I realize my brain is a form of wetware. The novel is the definition of “New Weird” SF, exploring the depths of comedic-horror. The big bad villain of the story is Korrok (several images below), whom our heroes discover is an inter-dimensional organic computer created to maximize society’s efficiency.

Korrok is essentially the final step of wetware: an organic computer with sentience. He became so proficient at choosing the correct choice that all of the inhabitants relied on him to make every decision. This ego boast hailed Korrok a god, and he soon began to demand that the smartest brains across the multiverse be incorporated into his being, a living beast of the greatest intelligence, but also of the greatest hubris.

The strengths of wetware, as described by Korrok’s head-minion, is that the neural pathways and artificial intelligence grew on its own. The intelligence expanded beyond its artificial nature. One essential aspect that humans have over machines is the ability to be creative. However, this massive sentient wetware became so developed it had a perfect sense of creativity. Korrok could predict every action and its consequences, and soon used this power to conquer every parallel world.

This idea is frightening. The belief that an organic being, made not born, can develop aspects of humanity raises some genuine concern. Creativity and the ability to overcome are then no longer solely human traits. And if this being has sentience then the value of its life is no longer obviously lesser than our own. And like the humans of its world, how do we control such a being.

An application of developing wetware is the ability to incorporate mechanical components into our own human systems: creating a cyborg. This way memory may be easier to recall or even downloadable. Other than mental function, this may be a crucial step towards weaving our human tissue and nerves with mechanical body parts.

Further reading (linked below) expounds on this one writer’s visualization, as well as other developments of wetware. The first link is a journal article speculating on the development of wetware and cyborg capabilities, while the second is recent breakthrough in programmable organic compounds.