Phillip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? and Movie The Matrix
What role will computers play in the future? What happens when artificial intelligence gets to the point of actually allowing machines to give birth to original thoughts, or suppose artificial intelligence became identical or superior to human intelligence? While attempting to answer these thought-provoking questions deeper questions arise that are more pertinent in our lives such as what defines being human, or as Morpheous says, “What is…real?” The Matrix as well as the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, by Phillip K. Dick, attempt to answer these questions through different matrices. These matrices are implemented into stories to provoke thought and ask the question, what if?
The actual “matrix” described in the movie The Matrix provides the best example of a matrix. The “matrix” in the movie is a virtual reality implemented and created by machines to use human beings as a power supply. Their minds are trapped and they are unaware of the reality that they are simply batteries for the machines. Matrices are situations or surrounding circumstances within which something else originates, develops, or is contained. For example, in the explanation of the matrix above, human beings are in the matrix and their minds are contained within that matrix. However, containment is not the only type of matrix. Many different matrices exist in our lives. The educational system at California State University, Northridge can be considered a matrix. When students attend the university they start as one person, and through education and social experiences a new person is developed. Dick’s novel and The Matrix contain in their stories many mat...
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...oids through his human-like experience with them; Deckard sleeps with Rachel Rosen who is an android, and then loses empathy for androids once again. Neo and Deckard may be a part of the social order they so strongly oppose.
These matrices apparent in The Matrix and Dick’s novel are not much different then the matrices we encounter in our lives. Deckard and Neo represent you and me. Everyone is trapped in different matrices in their lives. By identifying those matrices and working through them we are able to grow as human beings. Every day we slowly recline into our chairs, the rods are jammed into the back of our skulls, and we plug into our reality. Within our own different matrices we struggle to define who we are or better yet, why we are here.
Works Cited
1. Dick, Phillip K. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. New York: Balantine Books, 1968.
One of the most talked about opposition toward nuclear fission is the radioactive waste it produces. A radioactive waste is what is left behind after using a reactor to make electricity. There are two levels of waste, low and high, but both are regulated by the Department of Energy and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. High level waste is made up of fuel that’s been used directly in the reactor that is highly radioactive but can still be disposed. Low level waste is the contaminated items that have been exposed to radiation. The nuclear wastes are then stored in a safe and secure location with different types of methods such as wet storage, dry storage, and away from reactor storage. Wet storage is the main method of disposing the waste because it is the
The movie "Matrix" is drawn from an image created almost twenty-four hundred years ago by the greek philosopher, Plato in his work, ''Allegory of the Cave''.The Matrix is a 1999 American-Australian film written and directed by the Wachowski brothers. Plato, the creator of the Allegory of the Cave was a famous philosopher who was taught by the father of philosophy Socrates. Plato was explaining the perciption of reality from others views to his disciple Aristotle. The Matrix and the Allegory of the Cave share a simmilar relationship where both views the perciption of reality, but the Matrix is a revised modern perciption of the cave. In this comparison essay I am going to explain the similarities and deifferences that the Matrix and The Allegory of the Cave shares.In the Matrix, the main character,Neo,is trapped in a false reality created by AI (artificial intelligence), where as in Plato's Allegory of the Cave a prisoner is able to grasp the reality of the cave and the real life. One can see many similarities and differences in the film and the allegory. The most important similarity was between the film and the Allegory is the perception of reality.Another simmilarity that the movie Matrix and the Allegory of the Cave shares is that both Neo and the Freed man are prisoners to a system. The most important difference was that Neo never actually lived and experienced anything, but the freed man actually lived and experinced life.
The use and management of radioactive materials is not a topic that is generally discussed in abundance to everyday citizens. Many people do not know what radioactive waste is or even the effect that it can have on the human body. Radioactive waste is a type of waste that has some type of radioactive material inside of it. The managing of this radioactive waste is extremely important because it can cause damage to living tissue. Without a place to properly dispose of or contain, the radioactive waste can contaminate our water, food, air, or even our land. If this happened it would be detrimental to all human’s health, causing many different problems throughout the world not only with the health of the population, but problems with the environment as well. Therefore it is vital that we have somewhere to put these radioactive wastes.
Since the dawn of civilization, all living (and some non-living) things have needed energy. When humans discovered fire, the first form of harnessed energy, it made it easier to stay warm, prepare food, make weapons, etc. Since then, humankind has been inventing new ways to harness energy and use it to our advantage. Now-a-days, people in most nations depend extremely heavily on fossil fuels – to work, travel, regulate temperature of homes, produce food, clothing, and furniture, as well as other power industries. Not only are these fossil fuels dominating our society and creating economic vulnerability, but they also produce waste that causes a number of social and environmental concerns. The waste from these fuels leads to acid rain, smog, and climate change. It also releases sulfur dioxide as well as other air pollutants that are very harmful to the human respiratory system (Morris, 1999, p. ix). There are other alternative sustainable energy sources including solar, hydroelectric, wind, and biomass. However, the main source aside from fossil fuel is nuclear energy from controlled nuclear reactions (where nuclei of radioisotopes become stable or nonradioactive by undergoing changes) in a nuclear power plant. Nuclear power produces enormous amounts of energy to serve a community. Unfortunately, nuclear energy has its own set of problems – a big one being its waste. The spent fuel from nuclear plants is radioactive. This means that it emits radiation, or penetrating rays and particles emitted by a radioactive source. Ionizing radiation is known to cause cancer, and therefore makes anyone who lives near spent nuclear waste facilities vulnerable to this incurable disease. The disposal of nuclear waste is a global issue...
Nuclear waste has a reputation for making law makers and the public uneasy, thus it is difficult to find a site for nuclear waste disposal units. However, creating such sites is necessary to allow nuclear energy to the electricity production forefront in America. In the search for a waste disposal location, companies have been turning toward Native American reservations as the final resting places of the radioactive waste. Multiple tribes have quickly denied companies access to their land, but others have taken advantage of the potentially prosperous opportunity. One of the first tribes to decline a waste site was the Navajos, for the nuclear industry’s destruction of their land was still fresh in their minds. It is true that nuclear waste disposal is a theoretically dangerous venture, yet it also contains many potential benefits. Siting a nuclear waste unit on the Navajo reservation would benefit the country and the Navajos, but the idea is meet with reluctance because of the suspected costs to the Navajo people, the environment as a whole, and the Navajo’s land.
As esteemed journalist Tom Piatak wisely puts it, “The trickle of outsourcing threatens to become a flood.” His words speak the truth as outsourcing has left United States’ workers jobless, and it continues to increase the unemployment rate every year. During February of 2009, American workers lost a record 651,000 jobs alone, increasing the unemployment rate to 8.1 percent, the highest it has been in 25 years (Katel). Multinational corporations, hoping to cut down costs and stay profitable in the market, outsource by exporting American jobs to third-world countries such as China and India. It may seem noble that outsourcing provides third-world countries with job opportunities, but the United States’ markets and industries are greatly affected. Outsourcing is harmful to the United States’ economy because it paves the way for job losses, decreases product consumption, and widens the gap between the rich and the poor.
Artificial Intelligence is a term not too widely used in today’s society. With today’s technology we haven’t found a way to enable someone to leave their physical body and let their mind survive within a computer. Could it be possible? Maybe someday, but for now it’s just in theory. The novel by William Gibson, Neuromancer, has touched greatly on the idea of artificial intelligence. He describes it as a world where many things are possible. By simply logging on the computer, it opens up a world we could never comprehend. The possibilities are endless in the world of William Gibson.
Nuclear power has always been a controversial issue because of its inherent danger and the amount of waste that the plants produce. Once considered a relatively safe form for generating energy, nuclear power has caused more problems than it has solved. While it has reduced the amount of traditional natural resources (fossil fuels), used to generate power like coal, wood, and oil, nuclear generating plants have become anachronisms. Maintaining them and keeping them safe has become a problem of immense proportion. As the plants age and other technology becomes available, what to do with these “eyesores” is a consuming issue for many government agencies and environmental groups. No one knows what to do about the problem and in many areas of the world, another nuclear meltdown is an accident waiting to happen. Despite a vast array of safety measures, a break in reactor pipe or a leak in a containment vessel, could spell another environmental disaster for the world.
One major unresolved issue arises as the result of using nuclear power: what happens to waste generated in this process. As of right now, the waste is stored on site or in deep geological repositories. However, with what was to be the country’s end all storage site (the Yucca Mountain repository) no longer an option due to recent legislation, long-term storage seems unfeasible. In addition, as more nations move towards reprocessing, there are experts and lawmakers in this country who have been looking into reprocessing the country’s nuclear waste as well. While many experts say that reprocessing is the best solution for freeing the country of the nuclear waste issue, there are others who say that reprocessing is simply too dangerous and expensive.
Kai Erikson argues that radiation and other forms of radioactive waste are a new species of trouble (Erikson, 1994). Nuclear waste disposal is a pressing issue of extreme importance. Nuclear waste is material that either contains a radioactive substance or has been contaminated by radioactive elements and is no longer useful. With all of the dangers surrounding nuclear waste and a half-life of one hundred thousand years this issue must be solved with complete certainty. Any mistakes or miscalculations can destroy the environment.
The traditional notion that seeks to compare human minds, with all its intricacies and biochemical functions, to that of artificially programmed digital computers, is self-defeating and it should be discredited in dialogs regarding the theory of artificial intelligence. This traditional notion is akin to comparing, in crude terms, cars and aeroplanes or ice cream and cream cheese. Human mental states are caused by various behaviours of elements in the brain, and these behaviours in are adjudged by the biochemical composition of our brains, which are responsible for our thoughts and functions. When we discuss mental states of systems it is important to distinguish between human brains and that of any natural or artificial organisms which is said to have central processing systems (i.e. brains of chimpanzees, microchips etc.). Although various similarities may exist between those systems in terms of functions and behaviourism, the intrinsic intentionality within those systems differ extensively. Although it may not be possible to prove that whether or not mental states exist at all in systems other than our own, in this paper I will strive to present arguments that a machine that computes and responds to inputs does indeed have a state of mind, but one that does not necessarily result in a form of mentality. This paper will discuss how the states and intentionality of digital computers are different from the states of human brains and yet they are indeed states of a mind resulting from various functions in their central processing systems.
When most people think of artificial intelligence they might think of a scene from I, Robot or from 2001: A Space Odyssey. They might think of robots that highly resemble humans start a revolution against humanity and suddenly, because of man’s creation, man is no longer the pinnacle of earth’s hierarchy of creatures. For this reason, it might scare people when I say that we already utilize artificial intelligence in every day society. While it might not be robots fighting to win their freedom to live, or a defense system that decides humanity is the greatest threat to the world, artificial intelligence already plays a big role in how business is conducted today.
Peer pressure pressures peers in both positive and negative ways, depending on the situation. Peer pressure can display through attitudes, risky behaviors, wicked influences, and substantially through media in everyday life. These influences can occur in a positive way, which are particularly related to school and academics. On the other hand, negative pressure that can result from social media and any individual that may pressure people around them to make destructive choices.
You may not notice it, but peer pressure is affecting people and their lives, all around us. By this, I am talking about people getting into trouble, as well as the emotional effect it can have on someone. The term “peer pressure” mostly refers to teenagers and the ...
Peer pressure is essential for self-development as it causes the person to be more aware of their mistakes. Peer pressure is when an individual is affected by the actions of their peers, pressuring them to do the same action. It could be anything from smoking, sex, or anything they may not believe they are ready for. Once decisions are made there is no way to undo what has already been said or done even if they are not mistakes. Peers have a way of influencing what type of person someone is and how they develop into a certain character.