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HAL 9000
Sir Arthur C. Clarke at his home in Sri Lanka via Wikipedia
HAL 9000 is name of the paranoid supercomputer in Arthur C. Clarke and Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey.
The alphabetical letters immediately following each of the letters in Hal’s name are IBM, suggesting that Hal represents the dark side of computing.
Hal is a clever, if violent and strange, machine. After murdering the Jupiter-bound astronaut Frank Pool during a spacewalk and attempting to murder his colleague Dave Bowman in a space pod, Hal rightly suspects that the sole survivor, Bowman, is about to disconnect his higher processing functions. He tells Dave:
“I honestly think you ought to sit down calmly, take a stress pill and think things over.”
Later, while being stripped to his basic functions, Hal laments “I’m afraid, Dave.”
The film indirectly poses the philosophical question: Do machines possess consciousness? Only recently have philosophers of science considered the possibility that artificial intelligence (AI) may be not only sentient but also alive.
Apart from this issue, Hal arguably represents what writer Erich Fromm and C. G. Jung saw as the mass or “mechanical” aspect of mankind. Mechanical men and women follow the herd, do not express individual aspirations, and are always eager to blame their personal moral defects on someone else.
However, the HAL story becomes more complicated in later novels like 2010 (also a film), 2064 and 3001, where the literary device of retroactive continuity. Some plot and setting details are modified by Clarke but not at the expense of a greater, more holistic sense of coherence. For instance, in the sequel film 2010 we learn that HAL was told to lie by Washington, which was incompatible with HAL’s programming.
So the computer’s sinister ‘malfunction’ in 2001 becomes something more of an unavoidable (and forgivable) psychosis, ultimately caused by human error, as HAL ironically indicated in the original film.
3001 explores an intriguing idea where Dave Bowman (consciousness of human origin) unites with HAL (a computer program) to create a new kind of hybrid being named Halman.
Related Posts » Artificial Intelligence (AI), Cylons, Darth Vader, Mr. Data, Borg
Dave Bowman and the HAL 9000 from Arthur C. Clarke and Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) 1968)
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Cardassians
Image: Kreg Steppe via Wikipedia
Cardassians are an evil race of amoral, powerful and intelligent beings in the science fiction TV program Star Trek: The Next Generation. They also appear in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
In a compelling TNG episode, Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the U.S.S. Enterprise is held captive and electronically tortured by a chief Cardassian. Picard finds underneath the tyrant’s powerful exterior a frightened, abused little boy with a massive inferiority complex.
Picard is given a choice by the tyrant: If he agrees to say there are five floodlights beaming in his face when actually there are only four, his tortures will stop. If he holds to the truth, his tortures will continue. Fortunately, Picard is rescued by his crew before caving in and distorting the truth for the sake of comfort.
Toward the end of the episode, however, Picard admits that he was about to “say anything” to stop his electronically induced torture. And, perhaps most interesting, at the close of the episode Picard says that, after suffering intense and prolonged abuse, he really began to believe that he did see five lights instead of four.
This is a telling psycho-social comment about how people’s perceptions can change with the persistent influence of an evil power that is not in their best interests.
Related Posts » Corruption, False Consciousness
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Luke Skywalker
Screenshot of the characters of the film Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (1977) on the first Death Star: (from left to right) Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), Princess Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher), and Han Solo (Harrison Ford) via Wikipedia (click on image for Fair Use rationale)
Luke Skywalker is the hero of George Lucas’ original Star Wars trilogy, played by actor Mark Hamill.
Luke displays many of the qualities of the mythic hero, as outlined by Carl Jung and, later, Joseph Campbell. He’s born of humble origins and grows up with a missing father. He’s invited to embark on a dangerous quest or mission, on which he receives paranormal help from a spiritual teacher (i.e. Yoda) and a wise old man (i.e. Obi Wan Kenobi).
Also, he has a female helper (i. e. Princess Leia) with whom he perhaps falls in puppy love until realizing she’s his sister.
Moreover, he undergoes a spiritual transformation, enabling him to succeed in overcoming evil (i.e. the dark side of “the force”) within and without. And he becomes a select knight of goodness possessing supernatural powers (i.e. Jedi).
Related Posts » Abyss, Archetypal Image, Darth Vader, Han Solo
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Lexx
Screenshot image of The Lexx from the re-imagined Lexx series of movies and subsequent TV series. Original copyright ©1997 Salter Street Films, 2000 SciFi Channel. Fair use rationale, via Wikipedia
Lexx is a Canada-Germany-UK science fiction series in which a motley bunch of societal byproducts and emotionally underdeveloped freaks sojourn through the universe in a vessel that, itself, is alive—that is, a biological organism.
After a shaky first season, the series returned with a new female lead, better graphics and scripts, and ran for four years total.
Like William S. Burroughs‘ Naked Lunch, Lexx explores the grotesque and absurd to an extent perhaps not previously achieved on television.
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Lewis, C. S.
C. S. Lewis' study by Mike Blyth via Flickr
C. S. Lewis (1898-1963) was a British writer and Cambridge professor of medieval studies who underwent a profound conversion to Christianity. His popular books include The Screwtape Letters (1942, where a senior and junior devil correspond on the topic of how to destroy souls), The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe (1950, which has becomes a beloved family classic), and Surprised by Joy (1955, where he advocates a kind of Christianity inclusive of personality traits).
In Surprised by Joy Lewis says the Christian still enjoys sports and, speaking for himself, other pursuits like the study of Greek mythology. This view of Christianity radically differs from other paths, Christian and non-Christian, that try to eclipse, deny or eradicate worldly desires.
In The Four Loves (1960) he makes useful preliminary distinctions among affection, friendship, romance and selfless love. Lewis also delved into science fiction with Out of the Silent Planet (1938). And he offered a Christian response to the realities of suffering in The Problem of Pain (1940).
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Seven of Nine
Jeri Ryan aka 7 OF 9 by Jim Bacon
Seven of Nine
A female Borg, convincingly played by actor Jeri Ryan in the American TV series, Star Trek: Voyager.
Originally a human, Seven of Nine was transformed into a semi-cybernetic entity when assimilated by the Borg while still a child.
Seven’s humanity was restored, however, when Commander Chakotay stimulated her human memories through a technologically manufactured mind-link.
She joined the crew of the starship Voyager and through trial and error relearned how to interact appropriately with her fellow human beings and the other bipedal life forms that constitute the starship’s crew.
Seven is a fascinating symbol of something gone wrong going right again. She adds a new twist to the fall and resurrection motif so common in mythic stories of old.
» Abyss, Angels, Borg, Chakotay (Commander), Chekov (Pavol), Data (Commander), Dax, Jadzia, Dreamtime, Janeway (Captain Katherine), Kardasians, Kirk (James T.), Klingons, Odo, Prime Directive, Q, Relations of Production, Roberts (Jane), Roddenberry (Gene), Romulans, Sargon, Science Fiction, Siva, Spock, Star Trek: Enterprise, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek: Voyager, Sulu, Tek War, Temporal Paradox, Third Eye, T’Pol, Trickster, Uhura (Lieutenant), Vulcan, Worf
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Science Fiction (sci-fi)
Science fiction 1 by Glamhag
Science Fiction (sci-fi)
A genre of literature, TV and film sometimes trivialized by the arts and literary establishment.
Critics say science fiction characters are wooden, two-dimensional ‘cardboard cutouts’ rarely developed in the manner of, say, a Holden Caufield (J. D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye) or a Hagar Shipley (Margaret Laurence’s The Stone Angel).
Some sci-fi writers accept this criticism, saying the medium began as an exploration into the human imagination rather than as a commentary on the human condition.
By way of contrast, H. G. Wells, George Orwell and more recent authors like Frank Herbert (Dune), Ursula Le Guin (The Dispossessed), Kurt Vonnegut (Cat’s Cradle, Slaughterhouse Five) and filmmaker Stanley Kubrick’s intense rendering of Arthur C. Clark’s 2001: A Space Odyssey have helped to change the face of sci-fi.
Indeed, William Shatner, who plays Star Trek’s Captain Kirk, says that a good science fiction story must be grounded in distinct human experiences.
Gonzo Bonzo adds:
If you’re looking for some good science fiction focused on characters, you’d better read some of the novels from Robert Silverberg. Dying Inside, which is about a telepath in an early 70’s NYC, who’s losing his power, or Man in a Maze talks about the first astronaut ever to meet alien lifeforms, who comes back being unable to hide his feeling and emotions to his fellow humans, and who chose to exile on giant maze. Book of Skulls is also a good example of human centered SciFi, with very complex and multi-dimensional characters.
In more recent efforts authors like Jeff Vandermeer, Vernor Vinge (with his wonderful Rainbows End), Paul J.McAuley, Iain M.Banks, China Miéville or Ian R.McLeod are good examples of what SciFi is these days. » Source
Regardless of condescension from those literati who think they know best, sci-fi finds itself in a unique position to explore unconventional ideas that the worldly wise regard as ludicrous and unworthy of attention.
An historical example of a truly great sci-fi visionary is Leonardo Da Vinci (1452–1519). Leonardo worked as a military engineer and inventor in Italy. He was venerated in France as a genius and some of his more imaginative sketches depicted flying machines, robots, a tank and submarines. But Da Vinci kept many of these innovative sketches secret, most likely to avoid ridicule.
While sci-fi may still encounter a similar kind of prejudice, the runaway success of J. J. Abrams’ Star Trek film indicates that the snobs out there may just be incredibly jealous. After all, who can distinguish other than for themselves what’s treasure and what’s trash?
» 2001: A Space Odyssey, Abyss, Alien Possession Theory (APT), Borg, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Asimov (Isaac), Cylons, Hal 9000, Lewis (C. S.), Lexx, Matrix (The), Occam’s Razor, Parallel Universes, Roberts (Jane), Star Trek, Star Wars, Tek War, Temporal Paradox, Virtual Reality
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Sargon
King Sargon II and a Dignatary by Sharon Mollerus
Sargon
The Star Trek franchise arguably has created a modern myth by recasting elements of ancient history, myth and legend in an optimistic, socially progressive future.
Depth psychologists and cultural theorists say that the use of ancient history in storytelling sets off a subconscious resonance, giving a story charm and numinous allure.
Sargon is a good example of this.
In the original Star Trek TV show Sargon is a forceful and intelligent mind residing in a glowing orb who abducts Captain Kirk and plans to inhabit his body.
This fictional Sargon is named after two actual, ancient Sargons. Sargon I was a Babylonian king (2400 BCE). Sargon II was an Assyrian king (around 700 BCE). Both were successful militarists.
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T’Pol
T'Pol's iPod by shindohd
T’Pol
Female Vulcan science officer in the TV program Star Trek: Enterprise.
The character is played by Jolene Blalock, whose good looks might obfuscate the fact that she played the role to perfection.
At a 2002 sci-fi convention Blalock noted that following Leonard Nimoy’s example (Mr. Spock) was no easy task but, due to her popularity, she “must be doing something right.”
Despite the initial enthusiasm for Enterprise, however, the series couldn’t hold its audience and was canceled after four seasons.
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Temporal Paradox
Time Machine Clockwork by Pierre J.
Temporal Paradox
In the TV science fiction series Star Trek, which involves the idea of time travel, the following hypothetical problem arises:
If one must choose among two or more possible historical outcomes while time traveling, how would one be certain which choice is right?
One might think that the best ethical choice would be right. But even for those of us stuck in the present, ‘right ethics’ are not always easy to determine or assess, and fictional scenarios such as time travel make the issue even more complex.
One hypothetical solution to the problem includes the idea that every time we make a choice, a new universe branches off in a new direction, creating a potentially infinite number of universes for each choice.
» Free will, Prime Directive, Jane Roberts
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