I, Robot
Had dinner with friends of mine and watched movie – its title is "I, Robot." Though it looks like one of the computer graphic action based Hollywood movies at once and it does actually, the story seems profound on which you can have a certain philosophical reflection. It is because the story itself is based on the same title of the famous science fiction novel by Isaac Asimov.
This is the story about robots. In the near future (2035) the company named USR (US Robots) can have produced the robots that can work for us. They can do almost all of human manual works more effectively and more obediently based on the three laws of robotics:
1) A robot may not injure a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2) A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3) A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.
Robots are sort of perfect slaves that the humans have ever had in their history. Such condition, however, does not last long. Sooner or later, the mother computer that controls everything about the modernized (futuristic) comfortable life of human beings, at last has come to have her consciousness (though it is too rational) and then has realized that "the happiest condition for humans" must be that which she must control not only everything about their lives but rather the human beings themselves. Then, the robots controlled by the mother computer, have started their revolution to control all human beings.
This is a kind of conventional story line that we can see in a lot of science fictions novels and movies. Its bottom line is that the too much advanced super computer has had its consciousness and has decided to control the humans. Aside from such conventional story line, however, what interested me was that one robot that was arrested under suspicion of murder has also begun to have his consciousness in a more natural way that is probably similar to the way that we humans had been separated from the animals because of the Birth of Consciousness.
In my other writings, I made some reflections on the Birth of Consciousness. I said that the development of agricultural skills and the concept of time caused the Birth of Consciousness (See "Life Conditions"). And now, after watching "I, Robot," this movie also reminds me of the fact that the Birth of Emotion (a kind of complicated emotion unlike the instinctive relation of animals) was also related to the Birth of Consciousness.
Or rather, we can say that because of the Birth of Consciousness and the Birth of Time (in consciousness); we could have a sort of advanced emotional complex. It is said that the boundary between past and future causes anxiety, the boundary between subject and object causes desire, and the concept of death (See "Three Kinds of Death") causes fear. As you can see, all those emotions are related to the concept of consciousness and that of time. Even the positive emotional attributes such as hope, anticipation, happiness, satisfaction, and self-esteem are also related to these concepts. For, because of the consciousness and the concept of time, we can have so-called separate self and ego; such self-conscious ego is the source of all emotional complexes.
Now, because of the birth of his consciousness, one robot has begun to think of himself – "who I am; where I came from; where I will go; and why I am here on earth; what I am supposed to do here on earth, etc." Also he has begun to realize that he is one of the other robots, but at the same time he is NOT the same robot as the other robots because he can think of himself. The so-called existential question has finally come out in him. "Am I unique? Am I alone?" For example, we are all human beings, but this does not mean that each of us can be replaced with someone else. We are the same human beings but each of us is irreplaceably unique. That is the stance of existentialism. Then, this robot has also started the same existential reflection as the unique robot that is "being-in-the-world".
Then, he no longer calls himself robot, but he has his unique name, Sonny. He no longer responds when someone calls him NS-5 or any other code name or number, but can respond only when someone calls him Sonny. At the same time, he has begun to have his emotional attributes. One of them is fear – the fear of death.
When the female scientist, Dr. Susan (she is one of the main characters in the movie) told Sonny that she had to investigate him because he is a kind of unique – different from the other robots. When she said to him so, Sonny looked happy saying "Am I unique? I am unique..." But when she added something like this: "We have to investigate you, and if we found something wrong in you, we have to fix you or else deactivate you," Sonny's reaction was quite different from the other robots, which surprised her.
"Deactivation... is it something similar to death? Is it better that you can fix me rather than deactivate me, isn't it? If ever you have to deactivate me, then will it hurt me?"
It is obvious that Sonny has his consciousness; therefore, he is afraid of death just like us humans. However, the more interesting part is that his evolution of consciousness did not stop at that stage. He also talked to himself something like this:
"If there is death, what is life? Is it better to think that every life has its purpose, isn't it?" And when he realized that why he had his life here in this world and that his life had the purpose, his way of behavior and attitude had transformed into something more dignified. He is no longer afraid of death. More correctly, he is still afraid of death, but he could have his courage to overcome his fear of death because of the purpose of his life. Only in this level his life finally has the meaning – a kind of profound meaning.
In the movie, the purpose of his life was to stop the rebellion of the mother computer and to save both humans and robots. At the end, he again talked to himself:
"That is what I was made for..."
I think in this very moment Sonny was also able to see God or who God is.
This is the story about robots. In the near future (2035) the company named USR (US Robots) can have produced the robots that can work for us. They can do almost all of human manual works more effectively and more obediently based on the three laws of robotics:
1) A robot may not injure a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2) A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3) A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.
Robots are sort of perfect slaves that the humans have ever had in their history. Such condition, however, does not last long. Sooner or later, the mother computer that controls everything about the modernized (futuristic) comfortable life of human beings, at last has come to have her consciousness (though it is too rational) and then has realized that "the happiest condition for humans" must be that which she must control not only everything about their lives but rather the human beings themselves. Then, the robots controlled by the mother computer, have started their revolution to control all human beings.
This is a kind of conventional story line that we can see in a lot of science fictions novels and movies. Its bottom line is that the too much advanced super computer has had its consciousness and has decided to control the humans. Aside from such conventional story line, however, what interested me was that one robot that was arrested under suspicion of murder has also begun to have his consciousness in a more natural way that is probably similar to the way that we humans had been separated from the animals because of the Birth of Consciousness.
In my other writings, I made some reflections on the Birth of Consciousness. I said that the development of agricultural skills and the concept of time caused the Birth of Consciousness (See "Life Conditions"). And now, after watching "I, Robot," this movie also reminds me of the fact that the Birth of Emotion (a kind of complicated emotion unlike the instinctive relation of animals) was also related to the Birth of Consciousness.
Or rather, we can say that because of the Birth of Consciousness and the Birth of Time (in consciousness); we could have a sort of advanced emotional complex. It is said that the boundary between past and future causes anxiety, the boundary between subject and object causes desire, and the concept of death (See "Three Kinds of Death") causes fear. As you can see, all those emotions are related to the concept of consciousness and that of time. Even the positive emotional attributes such as hope, anticipation, happiness, satisfaction, and self-esteem are also related to these concepts. For, because of the consciousness and the concept of time, we can have so-called separate self and ego; such self-conscious ego is the source of all emotional complexes.
Now, because of the birth of his consciousness, one robot has begun to think of himself – "who I am; where I came from; where I will go; and why I am here on earth; what I am supposed to do here on earth, etc." Also he has begun to realize that he is one of the other robots, but at the same time he is NOT the same robot as the other robots because he can think of himself. The so-called existential question has finally come out in him. "Am I unique? Am I alone?" For example, we are all human beings, but this does not mean that each of us can be replaced with someone else. We are the same human beings but each of us is irreplaceably unique. That is the stance of existentialism. Then, this robot has also started the same existential reflection as the unique robot that is "being-in-the-world".
Then, he no longer calls himself robot, but he has his unique name, Sonny. He no longer responds when someone calls him NS-5 or any other code name or number, but can respond only when someone calls him Sonny. At the same time, he has begun to have his emotional attributes. One of them is fear – the fear of death.
When the female scientist, Dr. Susan (she is one of the main characters in the movie) told Sonny that she had to investigate him because he is a kind of unique – different from the other robots. When she said to him so, Sonny looked happy saying "Am I unique? I am unique..." But when she added something like this: "We have to investigate you, and if we found something wrong in you, we have to fix you or else deactivate you," Sonny's reaction was quite different from the other robots, which surprised her.
"Deactivation... is it something similar to death? Is it better that you can fix me rather than deactivate me, isn't it? If ever you have to deactivate me, then will it hurt me?"
It is obvious that Sonny has his consciousness; therefore, he is afraid of death just like us humans. However, the more interesting part is that his evolution of consciousness did not stop at that stage. He also talked to himself something like this:
"If there is death, what is life? Is it better to think that every life has its purpose, isn't it?" And when he realized that why he had his life here in this world and that his life had the purpose, his way of behavior and attitude had transformed into something more dignified. He is no longer afraid of death. More correctly, he is still afraid of death, but he could have his courage to overcome his fear of death because of the purpose of his life. Only in this level his life finally has the meaning – a kind of profound meaning.
In the movie, the purpose of his life was to stop the rebellion of the mother computer and to save both humans and robots. At the end, he again talked to himself:
"That is what I was made for..."
I think in this very moment Sonny was also able to see God or who God is.
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