A lot of science fiction topics have finally come to the awakening of robots and the relationship between humans and robots. “Westworld” is the most attractive to me. It has a creator’s perspective, which blurs the relationship between humans and robots, and blurs the relationship between good and evil, right and wrong.
“Uploading Life” uses technology as a background to discuss human consciousness itself. I like the perspective better, but obviously it needs finer editing and the show doesn’t go as deep as I expected. Now, “Life Cutting” has brought more advanced problems, and the first season also satiated my appetite, leaving enough expectations and reflections.
In recent years, when discussing the issue of science and technology ethics, philosophy is always brought. As far as the speed of technological progress is concerned, I am satisfied with its slowness, and I have also ridiculed the arrogance of human beings. The current artificial intelligence is more artificial. People have a wonderful name, weak artificial intelligence. Very figurative, it’s strong in some ways, but weak in more ways.
It is inevitable to recall an old stalk here. Some people ask scientists, our technology is so advanced, why don’t we produce a robot that can change the quilt. The scientist answered that it is better to directly produce a quilt without changing the quilt than the complexity of the quilt-changing robot. You see, how cunning the human answer is, and how sluggish the technology is. I like some precision-looking machinery, such as electronic chips, for example, people are going to great lengths to turn cars into big pads with wheels, and I firmly believe that one day, it will become a big pad that can even have no wheels, we sit Go in, go to heaven and earth.
But now, we have a new question, if there is another you, how do you define it? He is you, he is not you, you are his creator? People who haven’t watched the show may be confused about this series of questions. I would like to discuss a few issues without spoilers.
In the play, a technology is used in science fiction, separation surgery. People who have undergone surgery will enter a working state when they are working, and return to a living state after finishing work. These two states are completely separated. Therefore, we do not remember any work content in life, including all our colleagues, and the same is true in work. There is no memory of life at all, and we do not know if we are single, have children, and are happy or not. Even if you make a friend of the opposite sex at work, you don’t know who you are in life. Of course, the company in the play forbids the relationship between colleagues.
So, now there are two of you. A you at work, a you in life. Their memories are separate. Fun things followed. We can forget all the unhappiness at work when we live. I believe that most people are not very happy at work, and even forget their own leadership. Maybe he is your neighbor and your playmate in life. At work, I can’t remember the trivialities at home. However, if we are bullied, or even exploited, or arranged to do illegal things at work, we will not be able to know it in our lives. In our lives, we will be violent, sad, and happy, and we will not be able to remember when we are at work.
The deeper challenge is that if that working self came into life, he would be a baby. A new human who came to this world. He is still not you, can he have your wife, your children? In your life, how do you think about you in your work? Just to escape the unhappiness at work and not want to live with these troubles, you created a “human robot” that works for you? If he was created, and you are his creator, the price is to lose eight hours or more of your own time every day.
This kind of breaking the concept of time and space, I believe there will be more people and works to discuss in the future. Even if we take off the “technology” hat, how we balance work and life is an interesting topic. “Technology” accelerates our work efficiency, penetrates our life time, and completely separates our time as in “Life Cutting Technique”. Technology, as a productive force, will completely change our production relations.
But now, are the productive forces affecting the production relations, or are the production relations affecting the progress of the productive forces? I am deeply skeptical.
Han Bingzhe and Chen Jiaying are two philosophers that I like very much. Philosophers who discuss secular life are very similar to Chekhov’s novels. This drama and their works can be viewed from many angles. Today, we, in an extremely difficult environment, should have a relationship with ourselves, society, and the world.
I am even bolder. If the people who were sent into the cabin and their families today underwent separation surgery, would the world be better?
There is a song called “Southern City in Late Spring”, which contains a few lyrics:
I don’t know who can tell you
What the hell are you living for?
This city has long forgotten us
Passing through our youth, what else do we have
It’s disconcerting
disturbing
To Shanghai, to this southern city in late spring.
This article is reprinted from: https://elizen.me/posts/2022/04/severance-after/
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