I'm thinking some of these CFPs might help me narrow down my focus as I start to read more. I'm worried I'm going to get too big...
Science Fiction Studies
Popular Culture Association
Journal of Religion and Popular Culture
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
The Souls of Cylons
I watched an interesting episode of Caprica last night, in which Daniel Graystone, the inadvertent inventor of Cylon technology, works on the avatar of his wife, Amanda Graystone. For those BSG fans who haven't seen the prequel, Daniel finds an avatar program created by his deceased daughter, Zoe. He downloads it into a robot he's building for the military, and the robot seems to come to life. In fact, it has "come to life;" it's the avatar of his daughter, Zoe, who lives on in V-World with all the memories and attributes of the original Zoe. She is, for all intents and purposes, the first Cylon.
So, Daniel works away at replicating this program -- he's building an avatar of his wife, who has left him. In V-World, he interacts with Amanda's avatar, and at first, the audience believes it's really his wife and he's really asking her for a reconciliation. "Amanda" grants the reconciliation because she loves him -- why would she continue holding a grudge against someone she loves? Daniel gets angry because, of course, the real Amanda would never behave in such a way. Daniel thinks his avatar program is "not human enough." However, it might be more human than he realizes -- if the souls (for lack of a better word) of humans are inherently good, then he might have created an enlightened version of Amanda, an improved Amanda.
Daniel's reaction is interesting to me because many religious philosophies indicate that the intrinsic nature of humans is good, kind, and compassionate. In other words, perhaps Daniel thinks his program is "not human enough" because he doesn't know what it means to be human. From a religious perspective, he has created life. The avatar of Amanda feels sensations, she reacts to other beings, and she claims that she loves Daniel. He retorts with a line that BSG fans will remember: "You're just a machine -- you can't love." But who is he to say?
One of the earliest religious beliefs, according to Karen Armstrong in The Case for God, was the interconnected essence of all things. She says, "As life became more settled, people had the leisure to develop a more interior spirituality. The Indian Aryans... pioneered this trend, achieving the groundbreaking discovery that Brahman, being itself, was also the ground of the human psyche. The transcendent was neither external nor alien to humanity, the the two were inextricably connected" (19). I believe that Love is an example of the transcendent, as do many religious people. The Bible claims that God is Love. Buddhists claim that once a being is enlightened, she or he behaves with compassion for all beings. The real problem for Daniel seems to be that a soldier robot cannot have Love as it's fundamental, intrinsic quality. He considers this a mistake. He's creating Cylons in his own image.
So, Daniel works away at replicating this program -- he's building an avatar of his wife, who has left him. In V-World, he interacts with Amanda's avatar, and at first, the audience believes it's really his wife and he's really asking her for a reconciliation. "Amanda" grants the reconciliation because she loves him -- why would she continue holding a grudge against someone she loves? Daniel gets angry because, of course, the real Amanda would never behave in such a way. Daniel thinks his avatar program is "not human enough." However, it might be more human than he realizes -- if the souls (for lack of a better word) of humans are inherently good, then he might have created an enlightened version of Amanda, an improved Amanda.
Daniel's reaction is interesting to me because many religious philosophies indicate that the intrinsic nature of humans is good, kind, and compassionate. In other words, perhaps Daniel thinks his program is "not human enough" because he doesn't know what it means to be human. From a religious perspective, he has created life. The avatar of Amanda feels sensations, she reacts to other beings, and she claims that she loves Daniel. He retorts with a line that BSG fans will remember: "You're just a machine -- you can't love." But who is he to say?
One of the earliest religious beliefs, according to Karen Armstrong in The Case for God, was the interconnected essence of all things. She says, "As life became more settled, people had the leisure to develop a more interior spirituality. The Indian Aryans... pioneered this trend, achieving the groundbreaking discovery that Brahman, being itself, was also the ground of the human psyche. The transcendent was neither external nor alien to humanity, the the two were inextricably connected" (19). I believe that Love is an example of the transcendent, as do many religious people. The Bible claims that God is Love. Buddhists claim that once a being is enlightened, she or he behaves with compassion for all beings. The real problem for Daniel seems to be that a soldier robot cannot have Love as it's fundamental, intrinsic quality. He considers this a mistake. He's creating Cylons in his own image.
New Books... New Ideas
I went to the library yesterday (finally!). I went specifically to look for books from the bibliography of Karen Armstrong's The Case for God, which I've decided to re read. At least the first half, anyway. I'm very excited about one book in particular -- Mircea Eliade's The Myth of the Eternal Return. It was published in 1950, which means it's one of the oldest books in our library. The last section, titled "The Terror of History," seems like it will be most useful to my project.
There is a point, for Armstrong, at which religion ceases to be useful. It's the point when humans forget that their religion is mythos, that it needs to be interpreted and put into practice in order to be effective. When they lose the transcendent aspect of their religion, it becomes "just" a belief system, as opposed to a practice. Another way to react to the loss of transcendence seems to be literalism. In BSG, some characters, especially President Laura Roslin, make a serious mistake when they begin taking their religion literally. I may be wrong on this, though -- maybe she is just trying to interpret it and put it into practice. I need to watch the series again (oh, darn!). I can't wait till my grading is complete and I can jump into this project for real.
There is a point, for Armstrong, at which religion ceases to be useful. It's the point when humans forget that their religion is mythos, that it needs to be interpreted and put into practice in order to be effective. When they lose the transcendent aspect of their religion, it becomes "just" a belief system, as opposed to a practice. Another way to react to the loss of transcendence seems to be literalism. In BSG, some characters, especially President Laura Roslin, make a serious mistake when they begin taking their religion literally. I may be wrong on this, though -- maybe she is just trying to interpret it and put it into practice. I need to watch the series again (oh, darn!). I can't wait till my grading is complete and I can jump into this project for real.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)