Category Archives: Featured Posts

People’s Choice Posts #6: ‘Westworld’

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It’s that time again! Read through your classmates’ reading response blogs on the first episode of the HBO series, Westworld, and choose your favorite post. You can choose a post for any reason, but you always must clearly articulate your rationale for choosing it (e.g., why did you find it interesting, compelling, likeable, provocative, etc.?). This rationale can refer to content, style, creativity, etc. If, after reading everyone’s posts, you strongly feel that your post is your “favorite,” you can always vote for yourself, but you need to provide a rationale for doing so.

In order to register your vote for this week’s “People’s Choice,” “leave a reply” to this post, and in your comment, provide your chosen post, an excerpt from it + rationale for choosing it. Provide the title and author of the chosen post, along with a link to the post you are citing (please provide the link in the same comment: don’t make a separate one with just the link). Citing is really important (in this case, citing your classmate!), and this is a way of giving credit to other sources and putting yourself in dialogue with them.

Comments/votes are mandatory, should be made no later than M 11/19. The person with the most votes will earn the coveted “People’s Choice” honor for this round of posts! I’m looking forward to seeing what you choose, and why.

People’s Choice Posts #5: ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’

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It’s that time again! Read through your classmates’ reading response blogs on the first episode of the Hulu series, The Handmaid’s Tale, and choose your favorite post. You can choose a post for any reason, but you always must clearly articulate your rationale for choosing it (e.g., why did you find it interesting, compelling, likeable, provocative, etc.?). This rationale can refer to content, style, creativity, etc. If, after reading everyone’s posts, you strongly feel that your post is your “favorite,” you can always vote for yourself, but you need to provide a rationale for doing so.

In order to register your vote for this week’s “People’s Choice,” “leave a reply” to this post, and in your comment, provide your chosen post, an excerpt from it + rationale for choosing it. Provide the title and author of the chosen post, along with a link to the post you are citing (please provide the link in the same comment: don’t make a separate one with just the link). Citing is really important (in this case, citing your classmate!), and this is a way of giving credit to other sources and putting yourself in dialogue with them.

Comments/votes are mandatory, should be made no later than M 11/19. The person with the most votes will earn the coveted “People’s Choice” honor for this round of posts! I’m looking forward to seeing what you choose, and why.

A Recipe For Disaster

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Westworld is a science fiction tv series. It takes place in another world, where human technologies have evolved to the point that humans can create a “virtual reality.” Through the use of human-like robots with artificial consciousness, humans are given free reign in this futuristic amusement park, able to play out their wildest dreams and desires. However, this free reign will lead to human downfall.

First and foremost, while watching the first season fist episode of this tv series, I am flabbergasted by the ideas of the two inventors, Bernard Lowe and Robert Ford. There is nothing wrong with creating human-listic robots, given that the proper precautions are taken. Now, I am not talking about the guards and clean-up crews, but real laws and regulations that should be followed by the players. One should know that most humans, not all, are worse than animals if given the opportunity to let loose, for we are creatures of insatiable desires; rape, murder, and violence are all part of what we are. This futuristic park satisfied the conditions, for they are there to gratify desires of humans who pay to visit their world (00:10:52). Without laws, morals, and consequences to keep humans intact, it is only obvious that we would indulge in desires, and turn to something unrecognizable.

I agree with Ashley Stubbs’s, head of Westworld security, words to Bernard, “You don’t have kids at home, do you, Bernard? If you did, you’d know that they all rebel eventually” (00:18:43). These robots are like a “growing boy,” they absorb the actions and knowledge around them, and are shaped by them (39:32). If we are to pair up self-conscious robots and the dark side of humans, it is a recipe for disaster. Just like how abused slaves under the hands of a tyrannic master will rebel, these self-aware robots are the same. These “violent delights have violent ends” (1:04:00).

While watching this episode, I have never liked Bernard or Ford, to me, they seem too obsessed with upgrading these robots to human standards. Do they even know what they are doing? They may think that they are creating perfection robots, but by giving them subconsciousness and intelligence, they have gone beyond the creation of a tool, instead of an lifeless object for the sake of serving humans, they are creating a whole new species. As with every species, these machines would have their own will, desires, and freedom. As stated before, a “violent end” is only a matter of time when these new species’s lives cross paths with the humans.

Perhaps it is human egoism that truly sets their end. Despite the repeated faults coming up with the robots throughout the episode, they believe that everything is under their control, for the robots are programmed by them. These pride and self-confident creates a world of free indulgence that blinds them to the ever evolving robots.

Two different worlds

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Westworld is a show on HBO that brings to light a world where artificial intelligence has been capable of looking and acting human. With this people have created an amusement park known as Westworld  where people with the monetary means are capable of living out there western lifestyle fantasy. It is clear from the shows beginning that there is already a lot of questioning about what makes something human which brings in this idea that if the A.I are incapable of even hurting a living fly then they are still A.I. For the most part this show centers around the idea that humanity centers around violence and that even though Westworld caters to the whole family people mainly go there to live out there most deprived fantasies like rape and murder. 

What struck me most about the show overall was the way humanity was depicted. In the show people at first go because of curiosity but after that there seems to be this pattern that the guest only come back to wreck havoc that otherwise would be illegal in the real world. In the first episode in 54:47 one of the parks guests kills one of the A.I because in his narrative his an outlaw that needs to be brought to justice. What’s interesting about this scene is the reaction of the guest himself because rather then being in shock his proud and treats it as a joke. “Look at that I shot him through the neck and his pal here too, look at her wriggle, you go get a photographer” Even though all the guests are aware that the park workers aren’t real people its still surprising how unaffected they are to the fact that something that looks so real and acts like a person doesn’t  make them even flinch but rather gives them joy. Which also comes to question what happens when the people in the park can no longer recognize who truly is a guest and who’s an A.I. At this point I also wonder how they can even tell now to begin with. IN in another scene in 15:48 two women are taking about Teddy and how lifelike he seems even though his supposed to be an A.I that more closely acts to a guest but even then they can tell he isn’t real. It isn’t clear how people and A.I are distinguished but it is clear that people in enjoy that there lifelike because it feeds into there  fantasy.

Throughout the show there is also a constant connection that violence equals humanity and that to keep the A.I in the park inhuman they make them incapable of hurting any living thing. More than this they make them incapable of forming any outside connections and erase there memory everyday so that they relive everyday without question. in 46:34 Dolores one of the parks A.I sees that her father has done something out of character which is to stay up all night and contemplate his reality after finding a photo of someone in the outside world which is foreign to them.This effectively breaking him down and forces him to remember everything that has happened to them. The fact that these characters do seem to feel fear and love only brings to light that the only thing keeping them inhuman is there inability to remember what happens to them. In 47:25 Dolores dad seems to remember everything and implores his daughter to run showing that they’re capable of free thought and emotion, that even they’re programmed a certain way they are still  capable of overriding that program. This show really helps to question humanities motivations and how sinister they can be when given the freedom.

What Separates Us From Machines?

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Westworld is an interesting series that focuses on two different beings, “Hosts” which appear to be automatons, and “Guests”, which are humans.  It was a little confusing why they were called that but some dialogue mentions a “park” indicating this is a theme park where the automatons are design to serve or cater to the humans that attend it.  In this western themed park, it seems to be another world where humans are free to do anything they choose, no matter how questionable their actions may be.

In the beginning of the episode, a host named Dolores hints her world is the kind of place where it allows a lot of freedom by saying, “The newcomers are just looking for the same thing we are.  A place to be free to stake out our dreams, a place with unlimited possibilities.” (00:04:05). This is eventually seen to be true as some of these “newcomers” get away with things like killing other people and laughing over it as though it’s nothing (00:53:24).  The same freedom doesn’t apply to the hosts however, as they’re supposed to “stay within their loops” (00:40:05). They aren’t allowed to experience a different way of life unless a guest chooses it for them (00:39:42) and they aren’t able to kill the guests either (00:12:23) leaving them no choice but to experience whatever someone else wants from them.

Technology is just seen as a tool to serve humans which makes it even more likely the guests will treat them improperly.  When the Sheriff malfunctions, the guests say “something is wrong with it.” indicating that some don’t even view the Sheriff as anything but a machine (00:27:04) and some old guy even refers to them as “livestock” (00:45:02).  They return to town and proceed to shoot up the wanted man’s gang and say things like “Look at that! I just shot him through the neck! And his pal here, too. Yo, go get that photographer. I want to get a picture of this.” (00:54:40).  These signs show that humanity doesn’t care for the hosts no matter how lifelike they look or act. It’s honestly disturbing that people would be willing to kill automatons that mimic our behaviors and then laugh over it like it’s nothing.  The hosts can hardly be told apart from the guests so these actions technically are no different from killing a stranger.

With the hosts being treated unfairly, it seems like this theme park isn’t going to last very long.  Some of the park managers foreshadows this by saying “You don’t have kids at home, do you Bernard? If you did, you’d know that they all rebel eventually.” (00:18:45).  This is nearly proven later when Mr. Abernathy threatens the inventor of hosts by saying “I shall have such revenges on you both.” (1:02:03) indicating that it’s possible for the hosts to break free of their programming.  Generally, the hosts are not designed to react to anomaly’s or unusual things like when the upper level of the bar collapses and the people inside don’t even glance at it (00:50:30). However, Dolores appears to be showing this behavior too, as one of the researchers lines claim they “literally couldn’t hurt a fly.” (00:27:31) only for Dolores to slap one on her neck at the end, revealing her growing awareness of the world (1:06:54).

From this episode, we can see that Westworld is a place where humans can do whatever they want.  We see guests that kill automatons that look like humans, laugh about it, and snap pictures of it.  But if we keep in mind what defines humanity and machines, this world is pretty messed up. Humans are typically regarded as beings known for their empathy and compassion, yet there’s barely any to be seen here.  Machines are commonly seen as cold and calculating, but in Westworld, they’re built to be lifelike and live out the same everyday lives that can be altered in disastrous ways depending on how the guests want them to.  Pertaining to the series, the line that separates us is so blurred, the hosts might as well be considered more human than us.

A “Handmade Tale”

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The Handmaids Tale, when I first read a few passages of the actual book I knew there was a dark vibe to it. But watching the first episode of the series really showed me the true darkness within this “Fictional World”. I could see why this book as a whole has become popular. The new presidential administrations methods and motto matches that of the hierachy in place within the Handmaids Tale.

At (16:25) An Aunt speaks to the handmaids at the red center and explains why it has come to this point. And that is a plague of infertility and toxicity released in the world. A punishment from God. The Aunt without actual proof claims all the chaos is a part of gods plan. This is similar to the current presidential administration whose “information” is also missused and inaccurate. Around the 19:40 mark the aunt says somthing that left me uneasy. “I know this must feel strange to you but ordinary is just what you’re used to. This may not seem ordinary to you right now but after time it will become ordinary”. This statement concluded that these women had nothing great in their past lives and that from here on out that being a handmaid will be their normal.

Which is completely false, throughout the episode other women reveal information about their past lives and former happiness. Around 13:19 Offred has flashbacks of her young daughter and husband at a beach enjoying the water. Throughout the episode Offred has flashbacks of her daughter and constantly reminds her self to get herself together. She maintains strong in hopes of seeing her daughter and runing away with her far away. From the beginning of the episode I could see the physiological warefare between this hierarchy and the women. Around the 27:50 mark a handmaid is surrounded by other handmaids and aunts. Being accused of provoking her rape experience. The aunts get the other handmaids to agree with them which left me thinking how meticulous this hierarchy is to get these women to spy and plot against each other.

Woman Vs Woman is a recurring theme throughout the Handmaids Tale. This is seen perfectly within the Commanders Home between Offred and The commanders wife Joy. Pure hatred and sadness can be seen through Joy’s eyes through the completion of the ceremony. The root of that pain and suffering is not of Offred but the hierarchy and their sick physiological warefare. This is Due to our will for survival. Every Man and Woman within this hierarchy plays their part to survive. Joy willing and capable directs all this hatred and sadness onto Offred who is incapable of reciprocating the same energy back to joy. Because that’s risking her life death for sure. Death she does not want to face as she wants to be reunited with her daughter the will that keeps her going.

It is clear that the hierarchy in place has complete control over all its subjects and makes complete examples of those who are not within their control. At the 15:35 mark Offred and Ofglen decide to walk back home by the river. They encounter the wall that has a Priest, Doctor, and a Gayman hanging from it. Prime examples of what happens to those who disobey and don’t fit within the hierarchy. Death seems to be the penalty faced for any obstruction within the hierarchy that or being cast out of it to clear waste till dying days. The fear of death allows this hierarchy to maintain physiological control or advantage over everyone with in it. So much like controlling all actions.

At about the 47:45 mark The Aunt gathers all handmaids for a salvaging.  A man is broughtout who according to Aunt Lydia, raped a pregnant Handmaid and caused her to lose the baby. All handmaids are startled and upset. Offred is secretly breaking down at potential news of her friend Moira being killed. Aunt Lydia blows a whistle and Like Attack dogs on command begin to release all frustration, anger, all emotions onto that man a purging of sorts for these handmaids. They all stop and snapback to normal from this rabid state after the whistle blows again. Many handmaids seem relieved after the “purging” but Offred is still in disbelief from what she had heard.

This first episode was like the story itself a machine. A machine that has tons of parts that allows it to work properly. This episode showed how this hierarchy gets all these pieces to work. When it comes to the handmaids their obedience is enforced by the Aunts and the wives of the Commanders. They separation between the handmaids and the aunts and wives. Allows the hierarchy to create tension and complete separation between them. As a result the complete control of Women. Because the women in higher positions fail to see the harm they are causing themselves and their kind but that again are blinded by the will for survival.

 

People’s Choice Posts #4: “There Will Come Soft Rains”

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It’s that time again! Read through your classmates’ reading response blogs on “There Will Come Soft Rains” and choose your favorite post. You can choose a post for any reason, but you always must clearly articulate your rationale for choosing it (e.g., why did you find it interesting, compelling, likeable, provocative, etc.?). This rationale can refer to content, style, creativity, etc. If, after reading everyone’s posts, you strongly feel that your post is your “favorite,” you can always vote for yourself, but you need to provide a rationale for doing so.

In order to register your vote for this week’s “People’s Choice,” “leave a reply” to this post, and in your comment, provide your chosen post, an excerpt from it + rationale for choosing it. Provide the title and author of the chosen post, along with a link to the post you are citing (please provide the link in the same comment: don’t make a separate one with just the link). Citing is really important (in this case, citing your classmate!), and this is a way of giving credit to other sources and putting yourself in dialogue with them.

Comments/votes are mandatory, should be made no later than Tuesday, 10/16, at 12:00pm: the person with the most votes will earn the coveted “People’s Choice” honor for this round of posts! I’m looking forward to seeing what you choose, and why.

The Earth Without Humans

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“August 2026: There Will Come Soft Rains” is an amazing short story written by the science fiction writer, Ray Bradbury.  It’s placed in a world where humankind seems to have gone extinct and the only trace of their existence so far is an automated house programmed to ease the former resident’s life.  Near the end of the day, the house gets destroyed because the ongoing storm outside the house knocked a tree into it causing a chain reaction that resulted in the house being destroyed.  What stuck out to me the most was the amount of focus Bradbury put on the house. He made it clear that animals such as a dog exists so why center the story around an inanimate object over the only other surviving member of the family?  It’s almost like Bradbury wanted us to see what life was like for technology without anyone to care for it.

During the beginning of the story, it becomes obvious that the house is almost like a housekeeper by doing all the cooking and cleaning around the house.  At one point, the house reads the poem “There Will Come Soft Rains” by Sara Teasdale which outlines the situation, “Robins will wear their feathery fire/Whistling their whims on a low fence-wire/And not one will know of the war, not one/Will care at last when it is done./Not one would mind, neither bird nor tree/If mankind perished utterly.”(Bradbury, 3).  It’s interesting and a little ironic that the house just happened to pick this poem. The residents of the house are gone and it continues its daily routine as though they were still alive. The house, the trees, and the animals, have no clue that the family is missing, save for the dog. Eventually, this poem applies to the house as well. It gets destroyed at the end but no one will be around to know it.

Reading about the house and its purpose reminded me a little of the the Machine from E.M. Forster’s short story, “The Machine Stops.”  The Machine is the omnipotent being that practically spoon feeds humans while the house is more like an upgraded computer that simply makes life more convenient for humans.  Both even suffer the unfortunate fate of “death” but the destruction of the house was the only one to make me sad. Throughout the story, it does things for the family such as making food, cleaning the house, and reading to them aloud, even if they’re not present.  It’s not a sentient being but the things it does for the family is comparable to a child eagerly doing chores to please its parents. It has no idea that its been left alone and is just waiting for the residents to return. When the tree falls into the house and starts a fire, you can see the desperation of it trying to stay alive, “And the voices wailed Fire, fire, run, run, like a tragic nursery rhyme, a dozen voices, high, low, like children dying in a forest, alone, alone.” (Bradbury, 4).  Bradbury characterized the house like a struggling human, showing that even technology doesn’t live forever when alone.

Theoretically, if the humans were still around, would it have been any different?  After all, the house couldn’t even save itself. This brings up another similarity the house has to the Machine in which they both have limited areas of influence.  Both the Machine and the house were destroyed due to lack of management. In “The Machine Stops”, people could have taken care of the Machine to ensure it didn’t break down.  In this story, the owners of the house could have cut down the tree to avoid the possibility of it falling into the house. Humans need to take caution when managing technology though because it’s implied that the family were killed by some explosion, “The five spots of paint-the man, the woman, the children, the ball-remained.  The rest was a thin charcoaled layer.” (Bradbury, 1).

Even if humanity perished, life will go on without humans since the universe doesn’t revolve around us.  I think Bradbury put a lot of focus on the house and its capabilities because this is a message designed to warn us.  Humans are too lazy and self absorbed. We depend on technology so much and making it serve just us is the wrong thing to do.  The house’s downfall shows that technology needs humans just as much as we need it. It might not have any feelings but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t care for them any less.  The way we manage technology may cause more harm than good and we need to be more aware of that.

The Ironic Doom

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    August 2026: There Will Come Soft Rains (1950)  is written by Ray Bradbury. This  short story is about a computer-automated house that routinely does daily tasks for for family. However, there is no family occupying the house or  responses towards these daily routines . So in the end of the story the house accidentally sets itself on fire , being almost destroyed. However, there is an ironic doom that at the end of the story.

In the beginning of the story , I read that  house so intuitive or so ready and prepared, to do these tasks for this family. However,  we learn that the family died by incineration shown by there silhouette’s on the side of the wall on there house. In addition, the family most likely died by a nuclear  bomb when the author gave an indication that the city , miles away, had radioactive glow at night.  After this,  the whole house does it’s daily rituals at a timely matter throughout the whole day  , till the house accidentally sets ablaze . The irony to this that the house is so well equipped to serve their masters or “gods” Bradbury once said, that it wasn’t prepared to save itself  from the fire, thus to its ultimate doom.

As I also mentioned in the previous paragraph, Bradbury said the family was like “gods’ to the  house. We all know that humans create machines, so that it can better the lives of humans and make life much easier. In addition , Bradbury said  that the house continues with the “ritual of religion … senselessly, uselessly.”  The house even responded to  the outside  natural world with minor security precautions  like birds , “lonely foxes” , ” whining cats” , and a dog . The dog entered the house and it’s the only time the house granted permission for the dog to enter  suggesting it’s the family’s pet. The poor dog was frail, suggesting it was dying of starvation  , thus leading to its death. The irony of this  part of the story is the house is so ready to serve there masters  with anything , but has failed to save the dog from its inevitable doom , as it’s the only living thing in the house and probably the closest thing the family. Thus, the dog could have much been consider as equal as its human masters and been saved if it was feed.

On the whole , some time in the story  the house randomly plays a poem aloud for  Mrs.McClellan, who presumably is the wife of the unnamed husband  and mother of her two unnamed  children. The poem describes how nature itself is unaffected by the human extinction and that no one knows how it happen. This poem is in comparison with the house itself. The house is greatly unaffected by the outside world and doesn’t know what happened . So its only duty , which it is automatically meant to do, is to perform the daily tasks for the family ceaselessly, unless if the family was alive they could have shut the house down itself. And  because the house was unaffected by the outside world and as the house being a machine itself , was so intuitive to serve and do its daily task , it eventually lead it self to its own doom, which is quite ironic that it couldn’t save itself.

 

People’s Choice Posts #3: Metropolis

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You know the drill. Read through your classmates’ reading response blogs on Metropolis and choose your favorite post. You can choose a post for any reason, but you always must clearly articulate your rationale for choosing it (e.g., why did you find it interesting, compelling, likeable, provocative, etc.?). This rationale can refer to content, style, creativity, etc. If, after reading everyone’s posts, you strongly feel that your post is your “favorite,” you can always vote for yourself, but you need to provide a rationale for doing so.

In order to register your vote for this week’s “People’s Choice,” “leave a reply” to this post, and in your comment, provide your chosen post, an excerpt from it + rationale for choosing it. Provide the title and author of the chosen post, along with a link to the post you are citing (please provide the link in the same comment: don’t make a separate one with just the link). Citing is really important (in this case, citing your classmate!), and this is a way of giving credit to other sources and putting yourself in dialogue with them.

Comments/votes are mandatory, should be made no later than Tuesday, 9/25, at 12:00pm: the person with the most votes will earn the coveted “People’s Choice” honor for this round of posts! I’m looking forward to seeing what you choose, and why.