Escape to the Movies: Transcendence - SkyNet? More Like SkyNot

[Gorrath]

Ok as a scientist, I defiantly get and am on board with being fed up with the knee jerk reaction that science = mad men playing god. However, I'm getting sick of the opposite knee jerk reaction that science can do no wrong. I don't really think I got that sentiment from Bob but, I know I've seen that as a pretty common reaction to this film.

I defiantly agree with Under_your_bed that Deus Ex: HR did a pretty good job of exploring trans-humanism without devolving into either extreme.

In the sense you're using the word science, I presume you mean that you take umbrage with the idea that there are no moral or ethical questions about the way we use technology or the way we structure experiments. I would say that, like you suggest, that would be absurd. There are strong moral and ethical questions relating to how we go about exercising knowledge and collecting data. I'm curious if you could cite an example of what you mean though? I wouldn't have thought that people are any more likely to subscribe to the idea that there are no moral or ethical questions in science than they are to subscribe to some other absurdity, like Holocaust denialism or the people who think Elvis is still walking around. You mention you've seen this with regard to this movie's message specifically. Could you share a source that you think takes this stance? I'd be interested to read it.

 

[copycatalyst]

Not surprising that this movie disappoints. The trailer took me on that ride already: Oh hey, a movie about cool subject matter I'm really interested in, with talented names attached! Oh hey, they're taking the premise and running it into the ground, which is apparent even in one trailer.

 

[RA92]

Ah, a movie with Johnny Depp that Bob hates, guess what this guy is watching ASAP...

Yeah, it really has gotten to the point that Moviebob hating something sounds like a glowing recommendation to me.

Can't wait for Ms Doubtfire 2 actually, so I think your answer is this: There are people who want to watch it.

You're free to watch a movie to spite Bob, but he isn't exactly in the minority in considering Depp's recent output to be sub-par. Lone Ranger, Alice in Wonderland, On Stranger Tides... even Transcendence has been panned by most critics in general.

 

[psilontech]

Thanks for the heads up, Bob!

My first reaction was 'A movie about Transhumanism? Fuck yeah!' but now I'm not wasting my money.

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

Oh, Bob is pissed. I knew this movie would suck, but not this much.

 

[daxterx2005]

you've sucsessfully made me want to watch Virtuosity

 

[vagabondwillsmile]

Transcendence - SkyNet? More Like SkyNot

Transcendence is a movie that's trying really, really hard to be smart, but ultimately comes across more insulting instead.

Watch Video

BIG GRIPE: Polio has NOT been cured. Widespread vaccination has made it a basically non-issue in the modern developed world. BUT people in the developing and un-developed world still get it (Anti-Vaccination crowd, good luck fighting this off by eating dirt - you're playing Russian Roulette). ALSO, those lucky enough to have survived Polio, can have a relapse - POST POLIO SYNDROME - if their immune system is compromised due to subsequent illness, excessive physical/emotional stress, auto-immune disorders, old age, etc., or just because. All those people that got it in the epidemic in the 50's and lived through it can, and do, relapse.

The Polio virus is like Chicken Pox. You get over it but it NEVER leaves your body. If your immune system is compromised it can relapse as Shingles. To reiterate, Polio DOES NOT have a cure (like certain pox, HSV, HPV, etc.). It has a vaccination to prevent you from getting it. If you do get it, the BEST you can hope for is to live through it without permanent paralysis.

Secondary Gripe: Hey Virtuosity was cool (no need to wink to the point of a nervous tick, or whiplash, or ruining your own joke - we got the reference). Jim should do an MDF on it. But yah, I could tell just from the trailers this was going to be pseudo-intellectual garbage. A big-budget Lawnmower Man with none of the fun.

 

[TheMadDoctorsCat]

See I got the impression from the trailers that this was a pro-technology movie masquerading as an anti-technology movie. One of these things where there'd be a twist at the end where it turns out that the now-sentient AI can actually survive all of humanity's problems, one after another, and the terrorists come in to mess it all up. Guess I gave it too much credit then.

 

[frizzlebyte]

Edit: interesting question, why is the "science is evil" thing still around? it's not the 14th century and the USA has produced numerous advances in medicine, energy, computing and so on. So why is it that the trope is still around like this.

Well, there're a couple of reasons, I think. One is that a movie has to have a villain (or conflict), and it's easier to get people in the USA to believe that the arrogant, God-hating scientists (because all scientists must hate God...more on that in a second) would be the villains.

Which leads to the second reason: There is a huge strain of anti-intellectualism that runs in the American psyche. I think it goes back to how religious the country is, and how conservative the culture is as a result. "Pure science" in this country, like when they sequenced the earthworm genome, gets catcalls and boos like a bad rock concert from some people (typically budget-minded conservatives), whereas things with an immediate practical purpose (like medicine) get a more-or-less free pass.

 

[weirdsoup]

So, I think I'll go watch Charlie Brooker's Dark Mirror series instead of this film

 

[Charles Phipps]

Spea

Edit: interesting question, why is the "science is evil" thing still around? it's not the 14th century and the USA has produced numerous advances in medicine, energy, computing and so on. So why is it that the trope is still around like this.

Well, there're a couple of reasons, I think. One is that a movie has to have a villain (or conflict), and it's easier to get people in the USA to believe that the arrogant, God-hating scientists (because all scientists must hate God...more on that in a second) would be the villains.

Which leads to the second reason: There is a huge strain of anti-intellectualism that runs in the American psyche. I think it goes back to how religious the country is, and how conservative the culture is as a result. "Pure science" in this country, like when they sequenced the earthworm genome, gets catcalls and boos like a bad rock concert from some people (typically budget-minded conservatives), whereas things with an immediate practical purpose (like medicine) get a more-or-less free pass.

Speaking as someone who loves science as well as religion and doesn't think they're contradictory (much like Doctor Zaius), I'd also like to point out the streak of anti-intellectuism in America is more an independent movement from its religiosity. Let's face it, history has shown plenty of nations (certain periods of the Soviet Unions history, North Korea, and so on) where atheists can be just as down on the smart guy as anyone else.

The USA's support of "status quo" is a whole big can of worms but amounts to the idea they don't like anyone questioning ANYTHING--which is what science's job is.

But yes, I'm deeply disappointed as I wouldn't have minded a big dumb, "guy becomes Skynet, humanity fights him" movie but this sounds even worse.

 

[Darth_Payn]

I knew this one was gonna be a stinker, once I saw the trailer having Johnny Depp shot by anti-technology activists (man, I pray to [insert deity here] that there's no-one that extreme in real life. Do they want to go back to the Stone Age?) which gets the whole plot rolling, in a self-fulfilling prophecy way, and we're expected to root AGAINST the scientists?! Did the screenwriter carve the script onto stone tablets with a chisel? Well done on ripping this one down, Bob!

captcha: Autism Speaks
On that note, R.I.F.T. sounds like the anti-technology version of that anti-vaccine crowd.

 

[Deimir]

Spoiler

Transcendence - SkyNet? More Like SkyNot

Transcendence is a movie that's trying really, really hard to be smart, but ultimately comes across more insulting instead.

Watch Video

BIG GRIPE: Polio has NOT been cured. Widespread vaccination has made it a basically non-issue in the modern developed world. BUT people in the developing and un-developed world still get it (Anti-Vaccination crowd, good luck fighting this off by eating dirt - you're playing Russian Roulette). ALSO, those lucky enough to have survived Polio, can have a relapse - POST POLIO SYNDROME - if their immune system is compromised due to subsequent illness, excessive physical/emotional stress, auto-immune disorders, old age, etc., or just because. All those people that got it in the epidemic in the 50's and lived through it can, and do, relapse.

The Polio virus is like Chicken Pox. You get over it but it NEVER leaves your body. If your immune system is compromised it can relapse as Shingles. To reiterate, Polio DOES NOT have a cure (like certain pox, HSV, HPV, etc.). It has a vaccination to prevent you from getting it. If you do get it, the BEST you can hope for is to live through it without permanent paralysis.

Secondary Gripe: Hey Virtuosity was cool (no need to wink to the point of a nervous tick, or whiplash, or ruining your own joke - we got the reference). Jim should do an MDF on it. But yah, I could tell just from the trailers this was going to be pseudo-intellectual garbage. A big-budget Lawnmower Man with none of the fun.

While I feel your pain, it's much easier to say 'cured' in conversation than 'widespread vaccination has made it a basically non-issue in the modern developed world.' On the plus side, anyone intelligent enough to know the difference between the two would most likely understand that one means the latter when saying the former.

 

[GabeZhul]

Transcendence - SkyNet? More Like SkyNot

Transcendence is a movie that's trying really, really hard to be smart, but ultimately comes across more insulting instead.

Watch Video

BIG GRIPE: Polio has NOT been cured. Widespread vaccination has made it a basically non-issue in the modern developed world. BUT people in the developing and un-developed world still get it (Anti-Vaccination crowd, good luck fighting this off by eating dirt - you're playing Russian Roulette). ALSO, those lucky enough to have survived Polio, can have a relapse - POST POLIO SYNDROME - if their immune system is compromised due to subsequent illness, excessive physical/emotional stress, auto-immune disorders, old age, etc., or just because. All those people that got it in the epidemic in the 50's and lived through it can, and do, relapse.

The Polio virus is like Chicken Pox. You get over it but it NEVER leaves your body. If your immune system is compromised it can relapse as Shingles. To reiterate, Polio DOES NOT have a cure (like certain pox, HSV, HPV, etc.). It has a vaccination to prevent you from getting it. If you do get it, the BEST you can hope for is to live through it without permanent paralysis.

Secondary Gripe: Hey Virtuosity was cool (no need to wink to the point of a nervous tick, or whiplash, or ruining your own joke - we got the reference). Jim should do an MDF on it. But yah, I could tell just from the trailers this was going to be pseudo-intellectual garbage. A big-budget Lawnmower Man with none of the fun.

Small addendum: Actually, I don't know the current stats, but I remember there were reports of local polio outbreaks in 2009, in the UK of all places, in areas where their anti-vaccination retards were especially active. The UK actually had (and AFAIK still has) a very active anti-vaccination group that might not have the star-power of US anti-vac nuts, but are much more active on the municipal level, and as we (hopefully) all know, just getting the immunization rates under 90% is generally enough to make the population lose the benefits of herd immunity, and then the really nasty stuff is right around the corner.

Also, according to studies we could have actually made the Polio virus extinct in nature (similarly to smallpox) by 2010 if not for the anti-vaccination movement and the retarded conspiracy theorists and/or fundamentalist Christians in African countries who publicly campaigned against people vaccinating their kids.

We live in a fucked up world, my friends... -.-'

 

[schwegburt]

So what we can take from this review is that the Ghost in the Shell series still reigns supreme as the best exploration of sentience, AI and technology.

 

[Objectable]

You know what good movie you should see instead of this shit?
Bears.
Bears is adorable, fun, sad, heartwarming, and thought provoking.
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[ZeroAxis]

Hell,the 3D anime "Vexille" is better than this, and it's a complete bag of INSANE. http://youtu.be/tQs-aeL8yjw

 

[Agayek]

The downsides include that whole hive mind thing, the possibility of being hacked and controlled and/or any prospective chances at immortality being limited to those who deserve it least.

Here's my problem with this take on the singularity: These possibilities are only possible if the people designing and implementing the stuff are either staggeringly inept or actively malevolent. Neither is strictly impossible, but they're so far beyond the range of "normal" that they may as well be. If nothing else, the market would account for it and render such faulty products unsustainable.

Just an example, do you wanna know how the first three issues can be permanently and completely solved for any- and everyone who uses such hardware? It's really quite simple. All you need is to install a hardware off switch for the wi-fi component. That's it. Then people are, quite literally, immune to "being hacked" or subject to a/the hive mind or anything else.

The last one is a bit more complicated to solve, but that would only last for, at absolute most, a couple centuries. Currently, top of the line tech gets astonishingly cheap at ludicrously fast rates. If we maintain our current pace, something literally only Bill Gates or the like could afford today would be affordable, if mildly expensive, for the common man within 15 years.

It wouldn't take very long for technology as fundamentally game changing as "effective immortality" to propagate throughout the first world.

 

[Flunk]

Why does Hollywood hate women? Seriously, these guys just repeat the same tropes from 1980 and we've moved past that now.