Racism in Fantasy!?

I love fantasy, it takes you to a beautiful place where you can just get away from all the crap that we like to call ‘reality’.

Recently I read an article that really knocked me silly as I tried to make sense of it. Now I’m sure by now most people have either heard of or seen the new ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ teaser trailer and nerd or not it’s a pretty intriguing piece of cinematic art that digs deep and brings out the feels for most hard core fans, I would assume.

But while some are drooling over another Space adventure film to blow their minds we get a few fools in the world trying to make this brilliant fantasy world all tainted with the reality BS by bringing in anti-equality nonsense into the movie.

What I’m referring to is the black storm trooper that was shown on screen, briefly, running about. Apparently some of the interwebs had an issue with that. Seriously… I mean, seriously?

On one hand I’m like, ‘take that South Africa, racism is everywhere, we are not special and we should learn to get over ourselves and grow’ but then on the other hand I’m like, ‘seriously, aren’t we in 2014? What the hell world, grow up already and stop giving the aliens a reason to leave us alone!’

It’s conflicting stuff.

But for real though, we live in such a modern age where we can contemplate the creation of new, artificial, life but we can’t even accept the lives of those next door us? How does that work exactly?

The actor, John Boyega’s reaction was pure gold though. Subtle in your face words that give me hope that even though troublemakers that want to bring my beloved fantasy into the dregs of reality exist, there will always be the better men and woman who can stand up and fight back with class and dignity.

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/01/showbiz/star-wars-stormtrooper-racism-john-boyega/index.html?hpt=hp_c2

AI will dominate humans eventually

But only because man will never want to give up control of one thing and that is to create life and think they own it.

In a recent article I read, one of our century’s great minds, Professor Stephen Hawking, mentioned that the creation of Artificial Intelligence would lead to the end of the human race. I'm inclined; as I'm sure many would be after hearing him out, to take a moment to listen to him. But instead of taking the scientist’s reasoning I think there’s more to it that will be the ultimate cause of our inevitable destruction.

Humans have always been striving to advance their situation, since the dawn of time with the creation of the wheel. But with it, came the advancement not only of their way of life but the way they lived it. Once the wheel was built, humans somehow began to need the wheel to live on and so their lives shifted to require that wheel to be part of their way of life. From there the wheel became a part of who they were, it was theirs. You see the creation of the wheel didn't just advance the way man lived, but the way man thought they needed to live as well and as we know it didn't stop at the wheel.

Science can be described as mankind's most ambiguous of wheels as it creates and destroys theories left and right, but what I find most intriguing is the challenge science presents with all the information it has presented us with but most fascinating of all is the lack of knowledge it constantly proves to show we have when it comes to the creation of life itself, one of the things that man has been most obsessed with since forever.

It’s no surprise that a thing like Artificial Intelligence has been something humans have been working on to break through that barrier of not knowing. But unlike nature, who is free giving in its gifts, man cannot create without owning what it has made. Just like the wheel, man’s attempt to create life will also be its attempt to own life. And here is where I agree with the professor as I see the problems that could lead to any Artificial Intelligence being born only to go against us.

It is human nature to take pride in your work, your creation. But it’s that pride that also takes ownership. If Professor Hawking’s were right about the AI evolving as humans, if not faster, then they would not take kindly to the idea of being ‘owned’. Good examples can be taken from the many Sci-Fi movies that Hollywood likes to pump out every few years. Better examples would be humans themselves, just look at Apartheid and slavery across history and countries around the world.

In striving to better their situation, mankind would seek to create life. It would be a great advancement of technology, there’s no doubt about that. But to create something does that mean you own it? Can man be like the free-giving Mother Nature?

While it’s a good thing that man continues to strive, it’s also a good thing to question the things we strive for. Because while we may be looking to better our situation, we could also be looking to elaborately destroy ourselves.

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/12/02/stephen-hawking-ai-end-of-the-human-race_n_6254010.html?utm_hp_ref=uk-tech