Autómata is a metaphor for Europe
Out of ideas, out of time, building walls to keep people out. It's the Old World.
shareI thought you were trolling, but your other posts suggest otherwise.
"Out of ideas"
Really? British mathematician Alan Turing invented the computer. Turing and Austrian-Hungarian mathematician John von Neumann collaborated on the design for the world's first practical computer, using Turing's experience with specialised decoding devices (or Bombes) that were built at Bletchley Park in World War II. The result was the "von Neumann" architecture for computers, but it would be more accurate to call it the "Turing-von Neumann" architecture.
The first general purpose computer was built in the U.S. to these European designs.
And what is the most widely used CPU today? The ARM chips, that are used in almost all mobile phones. These are designed by ARM in Cambridge (not the copy in the U.S.) and the designs are licensed to companies who want to fabricate CPUs.
"out of time"
What does that mean?
"building walls to keep people out."
Are you suggesting this is something the U.S. would never do? If so, what is that huge, heavily patrolled and monitored fence between the U.S.A. and Mexico?
"[Europe] is the Old World."
That's what it's often called, but that doesn't mean it's out of ideas or intellectual vigiour.
Look at a list of U.S. Nobel Prize winners and work out the fraction who were born and educated in the U.S.. Better still, look at the fraction who were born, educated and did their prize winning work at a U.S. institutions! After looking at these numbers, you might be less cock-a-hoop about U.S. intellectual vigour.
Both your examples are from Britain. I was talking about Europe, and I was talking about the film. As I said, it's a metaphor. We could argue back and forth about whether Europe is still innovative and by what measure, but this misses the point. The director seems to be expressing an extreme cultural pessimism. Whether or not it's justified is another question. So let me restate my assertion and raise a question:
1. The film is a metaphor.
2. Is it justified?
Which is more characteristic of Europe: The brilliance of individual directors, or the malaise of the masses of the unemployed? The enviable protections of civil rights, or the casual toleration of racist politics?
You tell me.
Whether Britain is part of Europe is arguable: it's certainly a member of the EU and part of the "old world."
If Britain is not part of "Europe" - however you define it - then look at some of the work that's being done in Germany. (Here's a hint. Don't look for German scientific breakthroughs in U.S. newspapers or popular magazines.)
I notice that you didn't respond to my point about the U.S. building a vast Israeli-style fence along their boundary with Mexico.
In short, while the city in Automata could be regarded as a metaphor for "Europe," I don't think the metaphor bears scrutiny.
I think the only case in which the UK (without colonies ofc) is not part of Europe is in the language as they tend to say stuff like "I went to Europe" as if they are their own continent. But geographically, politically and economically it belongs to Europe.
shareIn many ways I see the US becoming "the Old World" as well. Culturally complacent, set in its ways, increasingly xenophobic (though we've had cycles of that in the past), increasingly entrenched establishment and "status quo" mindset with decreasing social mobility, and becoming as cynical in (and resigned to) its corruption as Old Europe ever was.
And I live here in the US. And I love my country--though increasingly these days that is mainly because it's where I'm rooted, where my family is--but it's lost most of its dynamic and "magic" and promise. I might one day become an expat (I have already spent a few years in various places outside the country), but where is the next "new frontier"? Sadly, I'm not sure there is one. But I think I've grown as restless as my immigrant forefathers once were in that "Old World" of yore, before coming here.
Well, a "New World" can't be new and young forever.
And yes, Europe has some of the same issues, though with differences of flavor. They did make a drive to reinvent themselves after the World Wars (which was a "hitting bottom" for them), though I'm not sure that's holding very well now. There are some sensible aspects of that reinvention that I do admire (and envy) though (like its "kinder, gentler" capitalism--though some of that predates the Wars), if they can hold up amidst some countertrends. But the OP had his points there too, though rather bluntly stated. I've heard some Europeans voice those very concerns.
Sure there are still inventions and advances, coming from both places. But is there a sense that we can reinvent ourselves, that we the people can actually create the "new world" we want, if indeed we do really want such a thing anymore?
Perhaps this is not a metaphor for a specific society, but a question for humanity--can we, will we, rediscover the power and excitement of reinventing ourselves, asserting brave new goals, and becoming "new" again? Or stagnate, shrivel, huddle in fear and paranoia, and ultimately collapse with a whimper? Will the robots be the ones who enter the "New World" without us?
Understanding is a three-edged sword.
Well said, alioth4. I hope you're wrong.
shareAlan Turing? He's been dead for over 60 years! What did GB do with that innovation?
And you may want to take a closer look at Nobel winners and their university and college affiliations.