AI is a story about a mother whose son is in suspended animation in hopes to cure a rare disease he caught. She is sad and is heartbroken and misses her child. Her husband attempts to console her by buying a robot child for her who possess all the characteristics and innocence of an actual child. David’s sole purpose is to love his mother, and he wants to be loved in return. He finds later that he cannot be loved because he is not a real child, he is an imitation of one. Only by a wish granted from the blue fairy will be become “real” and his mother will actually love him. Convinced that this is true, David seeks the blue fairy.
Jean-Paul Sarte a French playwright and philosopher focused on existence and being. What does it mean to exist? Well to live. Any living thing can live, but what is our purpose, what are we destined to do with it? Existentialism is a branch of philosophy that focuses on human existence. Questions that come out of the study “why are we here?”, “what is the meaning of life?”, “what is my purpose?”. Seems important to know one’s purpose, but Sarte believed that we are condemned by our free will. We don’t truly have any sort of purpose; we are left to find some sort of meaning in our lives without any sort of guide. Nietzche would say that there is my way, your way, and not a right way.
Sarte and other existentialists suggest that we must live an “authentic existence”. Meaning we must be true to ourselves and live the life that we truly want to live and not the life we want others to think we live. An example that he uses is the role of the waiter. The waiter appears to be pleasant and polite and willing to serve you, but this is only an act, a portrayal of what the waiter wants you to believe they are. This is not an authentic existence; it is pretentious and false, and certainly not fulfilling. If we aren’t true to ourselves, we aren’t true at all.
Existence precedes essence according to the existentialists. Our very presence is more important than our nature. We are what we do, and we do because of what we are. Well, what about David in the story AI, what became of him?
David after a long patient search does find the blue fairy, only to be disappointed that the fairy cannot make him real, that is impossible. If that is not possible than bring me back my mother, he asks the blue fairy. That is not possible either it has been 2000 years and your mother’s life has extinguished, we cannot bring her back because there is no trace left of her. Well David has something, his mother’s hair. Let’s give him what he wants the higher thinking creatures say. If he cannot be real, he wants his real love back and he receives it.
Author: admin
Obviously my interests include philosophy. I think thinking and thought are the beginning of every great thing. It’s how we understand and perceive the world. Periodically I’ll change things up and blog about something math or computer science related or even a blog about mythology. I am not political, trendy, or savvy, but I do like a good story. That is why I try and find a movie clip that hints or encompasses what I want to blog about. Sometimes the relevance is there, sometimes it’s a reach and I just really love the movie that I put in the post. The intent and purpose of my blog is to make you think, make me think and together our thoughts can be shared in a collection of material.