Sand Beasts: This is one of those convoluted holier-than-thou things I was talking about. These things are also pretty darn cool, but saying you want them to be able to live in colonies and roam freely is complete and total crap. They aren't ALIVE. They WILL break at some point. They cannot reproduce. They will fall apart eventually and leave a mess somewhere that no one will ever get around to cleaning up because some weirdo made some cool looking toys and left them all over the desert. They have no brains, minds, souls, or anything resembling a life, and they won't appreciate, know, or care if they're "free" or not. This is the kind of hoity-toity delusional nonsense that annoys me. I'm very into taking things for face value. It's cool, but please oh please do not try to make it more than that.
Bingo: If I saw this as a child and I wasn't afraid of clowns, I would be by the time it was over. Also wouldn't ever want to go to the circus again. Reminded me of the Sims.
Ryan: I liked this one better. It was the kind of thing we'd watch in classes way back when I was a film student. It's a neat bit of storytelling, and even though it's a bit experimental for my taste normally, I enjoyed it.
I totally agree with you on the Sand Beasts. They are not alive and the thought of them being similar or on the same level of humans is definitely scary! Especially because the are not.
ReplyDeleteI'd be interested in know what you think about the sand beasts and how they are similar to things like space rovers. To me they are sort of the same thing. Both are self contained robotic machines who's entire "existence" is moving through the environment they've been sent to. Neither has any significant relevance to our immediate lives, but i think both are essential experiments in exploration.
ReplyDeleteOuch, I'm really disheartened by your comment on sand beasts. I really loved them, purely because they were intricate and beautiful. Who's to say these beasts can be "alive" even if poetically? Obviously they're not alive in the sense that carbon-based life forms are alive, but I think they do have their own sense of "life."
ReplyDeleteI didn't sense any sort of holier-than-thou sentiment from the artist while he was talking about his work. No, these machines are not alive. Yes they will break at some point.
ReplyDeleteBut so will you.
Consider for a minute your criteria for life. You're right. They don't reproduce. But as far as a mind and a "soul" go, one could look at consciousness and pretty easily recognize its inefficiencies. What has consciousness gained us, really? Ok, so we're at the top of the food chain, but look how needy we are as a species. Look at all the amenities we have deemed necessary for survival. WE will fall apart eventually and leave a mess somewhere that no one will ever get around to cleaning up because some weirdos made some cool looking toys and left them all over the planet.