Honestly, I agree that this gave me the feeling of "the uncanny" because I felt it throughout the entire show. I think it might help to have a robot version of someone for certain things, but I also feel like it is wrong in many different ways. I feel like if all you have to do is pay money to basically bring someone who isn't going to age or anything back, then you're not allowing for the family and loved ones of the deceased to move on; thus, they'll be stuck in this weird place, unable to move on. I also feel like it is wrong because it becomes a burden on the people who have the robot. For example, the woman in the show felt like she couldn't have her friend over because she had a robot there which looked and acted almost exactly like her dead husband. This probably would have concerned everyone more than they already were. She also ended up having to keep him in the attic for basically the rest of her life as far as we know. And not only did it affect her, but it affected her daughter as well. The daughter now has to keep robot daddy a secret as well, which is a lot to ask of a child.
I would like to know your feelings on this as well.
Sunday, May 3, 2015
Friday, May 1, 2015
Personal ID: Black Mirror
In the last two weeks we've watched episodes from Black Mirror. The first episode was called White Bear and it deals with punishment. To specify, the form of punishment represents the code of Hammurabi, "an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth." It makes the punishment match the injury. The woman involved in the kidnapping and murder of a little girl had to endure suffering similar to what the little girl went through. The only thing is the woman's memory is erased everyday so that she has to experience the torment again. This raises the question, when will the punishment end and more importantly how can the woman learn her lesson if her memory is constantly being erased.
The next episode, Be Right Back, deals with something less disturbed. However, it can be a little creepy. When a woman's fiance dies, she can't handle the loss and resorts to using a program ,recommended by a friend at the funeral, that allows her to still talk to her lover through technology. Before long she becomes attached to the program and even springs for a synthetic version of her dead fiance. She was pleased with it because it reminded her of her fiance. However, this didn't last because the program didn't have spontaneous reactions like the original person. She had to constantly tell it what her fiance would usually do. In the end, she had to keep the program and it now lives in the attic of her home. This movie deals with the uncanny valley. The program became so much like the genuine that it was seemingly real. The program was creepy because it was supposedly a dead man brought back from the dead. I'm sure at one point the woman forgot that her lover was dead. This is how scary technology can be at times. What will happen once people start using fully robotic duplicates of themselves?
The next episode, Be Right Back, deals with something less disturbed. However, it can be a little creepy. When a woman's fiance dies, she can't handle the loss and resorts to using a program ,recommended by a friend at the funeral, that allows her to still talk to her lover through technology. Before long she becomes attached to the program and even springs for a synthetic version of her dead fiance. She was pleased with it because it reminded her of her fiance. However, this didn't last because the program didn't have spontaneous reactions like the original person. She had to constantly tell it what her fiance would usually do. In the end, she had to keep the program and it now lives in the attic of her home. This movie deals with the uncanny valley. The program became so much like the genuine that it was seemingly real. The program was creepy because it was supposedly a dead man brought back from the dead. I'm sure at one point the woman forgot that her lover was dead. This is how scary technology can be at times. What will happen once people start using fully robotic duplicates of themselves?
Personal Identity Week 1
Over the past couple of weeks we have discussed personal identity. Within those weeks we have seen movies that display these lessons in different ways. One example of this is the movie Catfish. In this movie, Ariel and Henry were filming a documentary about Nev. However, another story was starting to unfold when Nev starts interacting with a family from Ishpeming, Michigan. He starts sending pictures to a girl named Abby, who we thought was a talented painter. He then starts interacting with her mother Angela and older sister Megan. After months of talking to her, something happens during their Facebook chat that makes Nev suspicious. When Megan told Nev that she was a singer, Nev wanted hear her sing. Megan would send him songs that were supposedly recorded by her. However, when Nev looks up the songs on YouTube, he notices the songs sounded exactly the same, except the person singing it was Megan. This was the moment that made Nev wonder, "what else has she been lying to me about?" As the story unfolds, we find out that Megan wasn't even a real person. She was someone made up by Abby's mother, Angela. Throughout the movie, it is revealed that Angela has a community of made up Facebook accounts. The reason why is because she doesn't enjoys her real life in Michigan. In reality, she is constantly taking care of her husband's sons, while the husband doesn't really do anything. She isn't happy with the life she's living so she makes up a fake life on Facebook. However, after spending time with Nev, she realizes that she could still do what she loves which is painting. The movie ends with Angela pursuing her career and a scene of her husbanding talking about catfish.
The movie showed how one person is different from the other. Angela had different versions of herself displayed through Megan and even Abby. Abby was made up to be a painter, but it was really Angela, more specifically "Angela the Painter." Megan displayed Angela and how she sees herself on the inside. At least that's my view on it.
The movie showed how one person is different from the other. Angela had different versions of herself displayed through Megan and even Abby. Abby was made up to be a painter, but it was really Angela, more specifically "Angela the Painter." Megan displayed Angela and how she sees herself on the inside. At least that's my view on it.
Our Public Identity
After watching the Black Mirror story about Ash and his wife, and then Ash 2.0, we discussed in class the concept of our public identity. In the film, it was Ash's public identity that he formed online that was programmed into Ash 2.0. The company or whoever provided this service took all of that information and formed a person so to speak including the attitudes, feelings, and responses that were deduced from Ash's online profiles. In our society the idea of how we present who we are online is a pretty big deal, being as everyone can monitor the actions we post. This is something to keep in mind since today more and more employers judge applicants thoroughly by using our online identities.
So is it really our "best" self we try and put online? I agree in that we tend to promote what we find best about ourselves online. Our best thoughts, moments, pictures, achievements, etc. The reason we do this may vary, but personally I see it as the over arching thought that we all care what others think of us. That may not be a popular opinion but it is the truth and in some instances it is important to keep in mind what others think of you. That is not to say base your actions on what people think, but just know that people are gong to observe your actions and form their own opinions. So in order to ensure that people form positive opinions is the reason we tend to show our "best" selves online.
So is it really our "best" self we try and put online? I agree in that we tend to promote what we find best about ourselves online. Our best thoughts, moments, pictures, achievements, etc. The reason we do this may vary, but personally I see it as the over arching thought that we all care what others think of us. That may not be a popular opinion but it is the truth and in some instances it is important to keep in mind what others think of you. That is not to say base your actions on what people think, but just know that people are gong to observe your actions and form their own opinions. So in order to ensure that people form positive opinions is the reason we tend to show our "best" selves online.
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