by florenzie
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
iRobot shows what happens when this sort of thinking is applied in real life and taken to an extreme. The central robot, VIKI , is bound by the three laws. One of these laws is that a robot will not allow harm to come to a human if the robot can do something to stop it. VIKI's analysis concludes that humanity is in imminent danger and there is only one course of action that can save mankind. The danger is mankind's own desire to control themselves. Throughout history mankind has destroyed itself and seems to be on a course for total self destruction. VIKI's solution is to control and dominate mankind "for their own protection". To this end VIKI enables a large robot army to attempt to establish marshal law.
Of course the humans rebel and fight back. And finally, when confronted by the humans VIKI can't understand the problem with her (the computer has a female voice so I'll call her "her") analysis. She can't be reasoned with. As a last resort the humans have to destroy her in order to preserve their own freedom.
The lesson seems pretty clear and illustrates what many critics of the post-modern loose interpretation method have been saying. When there is no grounding in truth then people will naturally gravitate towards control and domination. Removing truth from a society eventually removes freedom and brings oppression. The example from Asimov's robots helps to make this point clear.
The movie is not showing in theaters anymore or I would recommend seeing it on the large screen. It is definitely a good rental. And yes, you can just turn off your brain and enjoy the movie. But then you wouldn't have anything interesting to talk about. :-)
Of course the humans rebel and fight back. And finally, when confronted by the humans VIKI can't understand the problem with her (the computer has a female voice so I'll call her "her") analysis. She can't be reasoned with. As a last resort the humans have to destroy her in order to preserve their own freedom.
The lesson seems pretty clear and illustrates what many critics of the post-modern loose interpretation method have been saying. When there is no grounding in truth then people will naturally gravitate towards control and domination. Removing truth from a society eventually removes freedom and brings oppression. The example from Asimov's robots helps to make this point clear.
The movie is not showing in theaters anymore or I would recommend seeing it on the large screen. It is definitely a good rental. And yes, you can just turn off your brain and enjoy the movie. But then you wouldn't have anything interesting to talk about. :-)
