"Scott Badger" <wbadger@psyberlink.net> writes:
> More to the point, I would advise someone interested in
> Psychology to pursue a position as an academician/
> researcher rather than that of a practitioner. This branch
> of science is so immature.
True. There is a huge amount of work to be done. It might however be relevant to point out that (at least parts of) psychology isn't complete voodoo either. We have learned some things since the 1800's.
<off on a tangent :->
> BTW Tim, Demon Seed also struck me as a memorable film.
>
> Caution!!! . . . . . . Demon Seed Spoiler Follows . . . . . . Caution!!!
>
> This was my first true exposure to the inevitability of computer-
> generated consciousness. There were so many great themes:
> the merging of machine and human, rebirth through the fathering
> of one's own self, and I thought it was particularly interesting that
> while many transhumanists look forward to become more machine-
> like, this AI sought to be more human-like . . . to be "alive". Of
> course that theme is a very vain and human-like theme. Why would
> an AI want to be "alive"? It's such a high-maintenance state to exist
> in.
I disliked the film slightly for this reason, as well as the suggestion that the AI was 'evil' in some way. But it was somewhat different from many other films in a similar vein, and I like metal cubes too.
Of course, my all-time favorite is The Forbin Project, where the immense missile defense AI starts to blackmail the US to be linked toits Russian counterpart. Vintage cold war paranoia, huge computers and in fact an AI that behaves in a competent manner (unlike most 'villains' in films - I dream of writing a movie where both the heroes and villains act intelligently most of the time, unlike in current movies).
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