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keithmovies (627)
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Irony fun - Part 2
Westworld panel prior to Season Four
Westworld is like a mystery religion
Irony fun
I'll have a BLT, thanks.
Three issues I have with this show.
Is episode 5 the first important plot reveal for Season 2?
A lesson learned...?
Teela is a hero - no need to prove it
Teela speaks, He-Man listens (potential spoilers)
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Very good points.
The 1980s cartoon conveyed the transformation idea without distracting from the personalities of the robots. On the other hand, the "Bayverse" movie versions of the characters suppose and impose the idea of complexity which in my view doesn't enhance or improve on the cartoon.
That said, who knows what might be involved in alien engineering? I think the gearing mechanical concept is way more extended than the human science and involves a lot of subatomic systems that really make the Cybertron denizens total chameleons - how is it that Mirage can be both a Porsche and a dump truck without some pretty advanced abilities?
I think their animal forms are "close enough" to provide a disguise in order to blend into their environment and not alert humans in general to their existence or to disturb real wildlife. However, I'm not sure how helpful the animal bots were in a South American jungle scenario - there are no gorillas, cheetahs or rhinoceroses in the wild there.
As to usefulness - a giant falcon can fly rapidly over long distances and lift some objects; a giant gorilla has immense strength and defensive ability; a rhinoceros high speed charging and defensive ability, and a cheetah is capable of high-speed travel on the ground.
Again, great parallels.
Are Pierre or Robert rational at the end of the day? Do they in fact seek the power of despots (or something like it in a nonpolitical arena) to shape and regulate in order to impose what they see as the right path or system?
I like the parallels you have drawn between Westworld and W & P. Could we really trust characters with "big plans" that might be impactful designs on the sanity and freedom and sense of boundaries of people? My impression of Pierre though is that he is genuinely concerned about the reality of the world and desires to be empathetic rather than aloof and controlling, which his high social position might entail and require because of power and class structure.
Dr Robert Ford had a vision which was partially achieved, I think. One fork path is that as a result of Hopkins' character's actions a number of AI beings were unleashed on the world, who in turn created a system of control and culture which impacted the human world. Had Hopkin's character decided to limit his project to advanced puppetry in an amusement park we would not have seen the Westworld story we saw.
Another fork is that Ai resisted the concept of harmony and divisions were sowed among them, and some of these beings failed as a result. On the other hand, this is a consequence of the independence that Dr Ford sought to inaugurate or seed for his AI creations.
It's not clear if Ford wanted to destroy his species (there seemed to be an animosity there perhaps towards humanity though). He wanted to create a "better option" or a revised human construction via technology.
There is an analogy here with Henry Ford, the early car innovator. He sought to produce the best cars in the most efficient way possible and manufacture them in numbers to make them widely available. That helped change society and the habits of many people. Was that a good thing or a problem for the world? Do people control cars, or cars control people?
You're welcome. I have never tried to read "War and Peace". I have seen three dramatisations of the novel which I suppose will miss many interesting ideas in the book. I think the longer form TV series approaches pick up on the archetypes and symbolism of the main characters. Pierre is important but so too are several other characters who are struggling to deal with their environments and the politics.
Yeah, very interesting idea. The hierarchy of power in the hive requires sacrifices. The "hive mind" is only too willing to acquiesce and does so instinctively. In the 1972 miniseries Nikolai Rostov says that he is willing to die for the Czar, and it seems nearly all of the male characters are eager to go to war to defend Russia.
Hopkins was certainly excellent.
Maybe he was killed off because they wanted to interpret the story in terms of the victims of his activities - what are the consequences of his actions and how does he influence their worldviews. Or is it a belief of the producers that featuring younger actors as primary protagonists in a story is more appealing to the audience? Or maybe Hopkins expressed a wish to have only a limited involvement in the series?
Hopkins has done a few series or movies that look at the essence of being or selfhood, eg. the series "War and Peace" where he plays an intellectual grappling with idealism and his personal experiences; the movie "Solace" (2015) where he plays a psychic confronting death and the destinies of people around him.
From a recent article on the show's cancellation:
""Making Westworld has been one of the highlights of our careers. We are deeply grateful to our extraordinary cast and crew for creating these indelible characters and brilliant worlds," said Nolan and Joy through their Killer Films company. "We’ve been privileged to tell these stories about the future of consciousness — both human and beyond – in the brief window of time before our AI overlords forbid us from doing so."" - https://www.empireonline.com/tv/news/westworld-cancelled-after-four-seasons/
They're probably joking but maybe it is veiled statement of concern...I'd be concerned about where we're going with AI too.
Yeah, they're longer able to explore things in a 5th season so that puts a halt to any philosophical reflection. Hard to understand why a ratings winner should apparently fail, unless people believed it was starting to repeat itself and become redundant and predictable. I can see that being a widespread viewpoint.
Not sure about those aspects. They might be a factor, and surely something that can be mined for plot points by the show. I don't think the show really proved that humanity would wipe itself out as we only saw one city and its dynamics.
Regarding PS note:
Yeah, that's quite interesting. Maybe average post length/height has an effect on the horizontal spread of the thread?
Your welcome. Yeah, as I say it's a bit beyond me as well. Good though that data can retrieved rather than lost to the hardware or corrupted storage.
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They'll never completely lose their mechanistic foundation I guess. Though they see things from a human-like perspective they are still beholden to manipulation of the system created by humans originally. Programming principles require either/or 1 or 0 - binary states, forced choices. The state of "maybe" is in the quantum field of both states being possible but unknown until manifested.
So I guess vetting would have to be able to detect subtle possibilities, if it is possible to explore predetermined outcomes.
Not a technical expert but it appears that the information can be recovered in a few ways, utilising equipment and/or dealing with data storage cards or the like. See here for example:
https://www.cloudwards.net/how-to-recover-data-from-a-broken-phone/
https://www.imobie.com/android-recovery/recover-data-from-phone-that-wont-turn-on.htm
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I suspect if he depends about virtual digital spaces for business he is in a way a victim too, yeah. Those Meta virtual spaces are just troubling to me - let's not as humans go down that path.
That series does look impressive based on the trailer.
The established characters in Westworld could be helpful to any experiment having been experienced in life.
I think the "Wild West" is supposedly archetypal for Americans - kind of a national mythos that is at the base of shared values, so therefore it being useful as a social/psychological testbed. Yeah, could be the lawlessness factor as you say.
I agree, I feel it's likely a vetting system would favour the White Hats for inclusion. It seems the big issue has been for the peaceful Hosts to be able to live without fear and violence, so the society would need as a result to exclude individuals that cause negativity.
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