Laaf Frankensteins Legacy Robots PostHumans and the Technological Singularity Frankenquiz Who is Frankenstein How old is Victor What is used to make the creature Whats a human being ID: 649639
Download Presentation The PPT/PDF document "LAAF 24 Matthew Cheung Previously on" is the property of its rightful owner. Permission is granted to download and print the materials on this web site for personal, non-commercial use only, and to display it on your personal computer provided you do not modify the materials and that you retain all copyright notices contained in the materials. By downloading content from our website, you accept the terms of this agreement.
Slide1
LAAF 24
Matthew CheungSlide2
Previously on Laaf
…Slide3
Frankenstein’s Legacy
Robots, Post-Humans, and the Technological SingularitySlide4
Frankenquiz
Who is Frankenstein?
How old is Victor?
What is used to make the creature?
What’s a human being?Slide5
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein
Written in 1816, published at the end of 1817 and underwent five revisions.
Well-received and popular.
Lack of science though likely influenced by Industrial Revolution and Erasmus Darwin.
Origin Theories:
Ghost story contest between Mary, Percy, Lord Byron, and Claire Claremont
“I saw the pale student of unhallowed arts kneeling beside the thing he had put together. I saw the hideous phantasm of a man stretched out…then show signs of life with an uneasy, half vital motion.”
Anxieties on childbirth.
“Dream that my little baby came to life again – that it had only been cold and that we rubbed it by the fire and it lived.”Slide6
On the next
Maury
: I’m
a teenaged mistress!
Mary is the daughter of William Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft.
Marries PBS at age 19 after….Miscarrying their first daughter at age 17
Extramarital affair Suicide of PBS’s first wife HarrietCustody battle for childrenSlide7
Themes
Nature: Sublime and the beautiful
Forbidden Knowledge
Alienation and Human relationships
Monsters
MirroringSlide8
Victor Frankenstein: Freak AND Geek
Obsessed genius who loses touch with family and friends.
“Life and death appeared to me ideal bounds, which I should first break through, and pour a torrent of light into our dark world. A new species would bless me as its creator and source; many happy and excellent natures would owe their being to me” (Shelley 82).
Assembles the Monster from dead body parts he exhumes.
The weird kid in biology class you don’t want as your lab partner.Slide9
It’s alive!
“I saw the dull yellow eye of the creature open; it breathed hard, and a convulsive motion agitated its limbs” (85).
“The beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart (85).”Slide10
The MonsterSlide11
Shelley’s Monster: Abandoned Baby
Extremely intelligent, articulate and self-aware
8 feet tall, strong, fast.
Driven by revenge.
Self-educated
Relates to Satan of “Paradise Lost”Feels the “Sorrows of
Werther”Jaded by “Plutarch’s
Lives,” “History of Empire.”Slide12
Monstrous Poetry and Sentience
“My person was hideous, and my stature gigantic: what did this mean? Who was I? Whence did I come? What was my destination? These questions continually recurred, but I was unable to solve them (153).”
“Was, man, indeed at once so powerful, so virtuous, and magnificent, yet so vicious and base(144)?”
“I shall no longer see the sun or stars, or feel the wind play on my cheeks. Light, feeling, and sense, will pass away; and in this condition must I find my happiness” (244).
Existence critiques humanity, ushers in Post-human era.Slide13
Frankenstein’s Cousins
“We’re the children of humanity that makes them our parents in a sense.”
“Life has a melody. A rhythm of notes which become your existence once played in harmony with God’s plan.”
“All those moments will be lost in time… like tears in the rain. Time to die.”Slide14
The Technological Singularity
Proposed by
UCSD’s
Vernon
Vinge
.Technology will progress so rapidly that the future will be unrecognizable and difficult to imagine.Machines will become self-aware.
Humans will eventually become a new species augmented by technology. We will become post-human. Inevitable?Slide15
TodaySlide16
Skinput
Researchers have found a way to use the body as an interface.
A device records the vibrations in the skin made from tapping and translates it into electrical impulses. Slide17
Medical Breakthroughs
Brain Computer Interface allows Jens to see again.
He can walk on his own and even drive a little!Slide18
Star Trek: First ContactSlide19
Is resistance futile?
Trek optimism
vs
Singularity dread
Singularity
Mankind is obsolete.Future is dark, unrecognizable. Trek
Mankind outgrows greed and strives “to better ourselves and the rest of humanity.”Future is hopeful.Slide20
Dichotomies: Two Roads Diverged….
World War III weapons destroy and restore mankind.
Evolution
Borg represent a post-human future devoid of humanity. “Human. We used to be like them. Flawed. Organic. Weak.”
Borg evolve through assimilation of other species.
Enterprise crew represent mankind’s highest potential.
Data’s moves toward humanity, the Borg away.Geordi’s
ocular implants contrasts with Borg augments.
Lily
vs
Picard. Slide21
LAAF advice column
Dear Professor Cheung,
On
LAAF’s
two year anniversary, I find myself wondering about the meaning and direction of my life. Since I have nothing better to do, I sit around and wonder about what the future will be like for mankind. Let me tell you, it doesn’t look good.
I’m afraid our quest for improvement will lead to a quest for convenience, and technology will soon invade our lives as well as our bodies. I’m scared that the future will be filled with robots enslaving humanity. What should I do?
Sincerely,
Lu
DiteSlide22
Laaf Advice Column
Dear Lu,
Yes, if you put it that way, technology is advancing faster and faster these days. Sometimes it’d be great if the geniuses who make these things would let us catch our breath in between inventions. Seriously, I’m still reeling from the invention of the
roomba
. I don’t even know what this
ipad
thing does except take our money. There isn’t much we can really do about it save sabotaging machines, but that isn’t very feasible.
I’d like to leave you with this thought from Carl Sagan….Slide23
“The visions we offer our children shape the future. It matters what those visions are. Often they become self-fulfilling prophecies. Dreams are maps.”
There are many dark visions of the future out there. Mary Shelley dreamed of one nearly two hundred years ago and we’re still seeing visions of dystopia. If Carl Sagan is right, we needs to stay positive. If you can think of a future where a ragtag band of humans fight a network of computers called
Skynet
, you can also think of a future where humans use
Skynet
to forecast the weather. The future doesn’t have to be filled with robot zombies. Resistance isn’t futile if it means dreaming of a better tomorrow.
Prof. Cheung