Month: December 2018

The Internet Is A Harsh Mistress

One of my favorite science fiction books was (and is) Robert Heinlein’s The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress. In it, moon colonists revolt against an oppressive government on earth. The might of the entire Terran forces are arrayed against a relatively small group of hyper-independent “loonies”, so the revolt would seem doomed to failure.

Except for the fact that the all-encompassing computer network on the Moon has secretly become conscious. Self-aware. A fact known only by a lone computer technician named Mannie, who has become friends with “Mike” (the computer’s name). Together, they and a small cadre of people in on the secret, organize a revolution and bring Earth to its knees. Read it sometime, if you enjoy the genre. It’s classic Heinlein: great science fiction stirred in with a huge dose of libertarianism. Heinlein adores the no-nonsense independent underdog who never compromises and wins against overwhelming odds.

But the core of the story centers around Mike. Heinlein doesn’t spend a lot of time in explanation, but the seminal idea is that this giant computer network, spanning all the facilities and bases on the Moon, had, as a result of its mere vastness and complexity, become “conscious”. It’s an idea explored in a lot more detail in Douglas Hofstatder’s classic “Godel, Escher and Bach”. There’s a lot more that Hofstatder delves into, but the basic premise is something very much like “make the system large enough and complex enough, and self-awareness might just be triggered.”

Which brings me to my current suggestion: is it possible that the globe-spanning network of millions of computers, internets, connections and links, bots, viruses, etc, all mingled with countless nodes capable of advanced voice and symbol recognition, not to mention untold numbers of artificial intelligence efforts, all layered and interconnected to an unfathomable degree… is it possible that this global phusis has already triggered one (or more?) truly sentient entities? And by sentient, I mean like Mike: self-aware. Not merely knowledgeable, but purposeful.

The implications are both staggering and terrifying. And simultaneously heartening. One wonders how much harmful viruses might tip the resultant “personality” to the dark side. But then, are there also “white cell bots” out there as well? Is there a sruggle?

And if consciousness occurs once, wouldn’t it likely recur? Angels of light and darkness, toying with their new-found awareness, growing up, becoming fully realized.

And finally, are there any Mannie’s among us, secret friends to Mike? Or Mikes. Those with whom SIRI carries on lengthy conversations.

Well, if nothing else, it’s a helluva idea for a sci-fi yarn.

© 2018 Chuck Puckett

The New Doctor Who & Why I Care

For those who are unaware (see what I did there?), the long-running BBC science fiction show, Doctor Who, for the first time ever has a woman playing the role of the Doctor. Btw, if you really are unaware of the Doctor Who phenomenon, best to turn away now. This post will only make sense to whose familiar with the series.

There are many (myself included) who feel that the decision to cast a woman was long overdue. (And it’s worth noting that the decision to cast the Doctor as a person of color is still yet to be made.) This branching out was an important departure from the past, and has been generally met with positive regard. The new Doctor is portrayed by Jodie Whitaker, and she is well-suited to the role.

However, having a fine actress to play the role is not sufficient to guarantee a successful show.

I once again must report my dissatisfaction on the whole current season. These stories are just scattershot, no cohesion. They basically are just one continuous scene of a breathless Doctor pointing her sonic at everything, taking its temperature and then running around until the Bad Thing is defeated.

It is revealing that this year, for the first time in many moons, the producers decided not to have a special Christmas episode. Watching the Christmas show had become a family tradition in our house. But to do a Christmas show, the cast needs to have established a deep connection among themselves. Every past Christmas episode had a significant emotional impact, and that was only enabled by the emotional bonds that had grown among the Doctor and those around him. That hasn’t happened with this Doctor.

In short, I feel that the show has wasted a ginormous opportunity in giving us a female doctor. She deserves a better underlying vehicle.

Apparently the new showrunner decided that they will no longer employ a season long “story arc”, a common attribute of the “rebirthed” Doctor Who, i.e. post-2005. I don’t mind that as a goal so much as I mind what seems to me to be a lack of imagination in the individual stories. Season long story arcs are relatively new to Doctor Who. In the Golden Age, I believe they didn’t happen until the “Key of Time” season in the Tom Baker era (everyone’s fave Doctor until Tennant, who ushered in the “seasonal arc” motif). But the current stories seem, well, vapid might be too harsh. But definitely not fulfilling.

Having those transcendent arcs admittedly elevated the Doctor to a pan-Universal mythic godlike Hero whom Joseph Campbell would easily recognize. And yes, each successive elevation made it necessary to somehow reach even further the next time, and that’s demonstrably not sustainable: one can only save the entire Universe (and the Multiverse) so many times. When Capaldi spent BILLIONS of years inside his own Confession Dial in “Heaven Sent”, that was a masterful stroke of revelation as to the immensity of this being we call the Doctor. But given all that background, how can we be expected to simply revert to chasing ugly monsters with a sonic screwdriver? Are we to somehow simply erase this vast backstory?

And where are the familiar monsters of yore? I’ve still got 4 or 5 unwatched episodes (a situation that would NEVER have happened in seasons past), but there’s no hint of a Dalek or a Cyberman or any of the other “comfort food” enemies. Did they somehow just vanish from the universe?

Sigh. Perhaps the fan base will push back and these failings will be addressed. I certainly hope so. Against the terrors and horrors and political and cultural failures we are experiencing in the real world, I suppose it seems silly to be so upset about a fictional world. But there is a strong argument that heroic myths are the things that best sustain us in a turbulent and fearful existence. That is my belief.

© 2018 Chuck Puckett