I haven't seen Black Mirror. I'm not sure that we get it up here in the Great White North. I'll have to have a look at my local cable offerings and see.Yaaa! Somebody else likes it. So now i wonder if you watched/liked Black Mirror as well?
What television shows are you watching?
- Thread starter EgonSpengler
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I haven't seen Black Mirror. I'm not sure that we get it up here in the Great White North. I'll have to have a look at my local cable offerings and see.
Not sure about cable, but it's on Netflix.
Altered Carbon is certainly worth watching if you like blade runner like sci fi. I've watched two episodes so far and will keep going. It is a strange mix of current and future culture, but the story like is excellent and engaging.
Demand a refund of your tax dollars!!!I started the first book but it was removed from my phone by the library before I could finish it.
Damn hobbs you don't like nuthin'
Agree that the Star Trek parody was awesome... which other episodes did you like?
@Lemon Merchant - Yep its on NETFLIX
That was "The National Anthem", "Entire History of You" and "White Christmas" respectively... the latter being one of my favs for sure. I like how the show keeps exploring the mortality of sentient AI... that seems to be a major focus of season 4.
Anyway, which ones were your least favourite? "Cringe-inducing" as you called it...
Anyway, which ones were your least favourite? "Cringe-inducing" as you called it...
This sounds strangely like a RL event.
I agree with Hobbs on this. Of the (iirc 5) episodes i watched, i only liked the one with the reality tv show being the only way to not be a peon working for credits in the gym, and (somewhat) the one where they could live forever in some virtual town.
The one about Cameron (did it air before Cameron and the pig?) was cringe-worthy imo.
The one about Cameron (did it air before Cameron and the pig?) was cringe-worthy imo.
hobbsyoyo
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I thought it came out after the Cameron-pig story broke but I could be mistaken. It was definitely cringe-worthy but I remember still liking it. When everything that followed that episode proved to be just a roller coaster of cringe moments I stopped caring.
That was one of the things I really enjoyed about VOY, how they explored the rights of setient holograms like The Doctor... TNG touched on it too in a few great Data-focused episodes, like the one with his child and the one where they wanted to study his head.
Which other one about Cameron? I only remember the pig one
Or was it the one with the bees maybe?Anyway the ones you like are 15 Million Merits and San Junipero ... which yes were really good ones, I thought... spooky how close we are to life being exactly that, huh? That's one of the things that attracts me to the show... the whole "prophesy/warnings of a not-too-distant dystopian future" vibe they have going on.
hobbsyoyo
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Data definitely raised some questions about the meaning and reality of AI life. However, as I re-watch the series now I find him to be more of a character meant to appeal to extremely introverted engineers. He's a perfect (and lovable) example of people who fail to grasp normal human emotions and interactions.
That was one of the things I really enjoyed about VOY, how they explored the rights of setient holograms like The Doctor... TNG touched on it too in a few great Data-focused episodes, like the one with his child and the one where they wanted to study his head. Which other one about Cameron? I only remember the pig one
Anyway the ones you like are 15 Million Merits and San Junipero ... which yes were really good ones, I thought... spooky how close we are to life being exactly that, huh? That's one of the things that attracts me to the show... the whole "prophesy/warnings of a not-too-distant dystopian future" vibe they have going on.
I meant there was just one with the Cameron thing, but i don't recall when it aired (ie if it was just after Cameron and the pig IRL story
)
That show is ribs-cracking funny
... especially Brak... and it used to come on at just the optimum time of night for folks to be in the perfect state of mind
to enjoy such a delightfully absurd show. What a classic
I had never heard that so I just looked up "Piggate"... it seems that the Episode actually aired before the story came out... so more prophetic powers by Black Mirror... if you can believe that.I meant there was just one with the Cameron thing, but i don't recall when it aired (ie if it was just after Cameron and the pig IRL story
I always found Data to be a plot contrivance where he served to illustrate the progress humans had made by the 24th century. His constant desire to be more human and human like is a direct dichotomy to the characteristics of an AI being. Assuming his programming included self learning (which it did) and he could modify his programming (which he seemed to be able to), he would eventually work out all of his bugs and be a perfect organism. The fact that he had presumably reached that state, yet wanted to be a flawed entity, like a human being, suggests that either he had a fetish of some sort, or aspired to be less than he was for reasons unknown. In reality, a being such as Data would undoubtedly realize his "perfect" nature and conclude that he was superior to humans, and not aspire to be one. The writers of ST:TNG unjustly anthropomorphized him into being a human wannabe for the purposes of creating drama, and a "lovable" character that the audience could relate to. His struggle to be human was a parable of our struggle to be better humans. His real impact on the series could have been much more profound, IMHO.
Witness the episode where the Enterprise finds the Borg that Geordi later names "Hugh" ("I, Borg"). The Borg are the baddies, but they are the logical extent of AI beings. The episode goes through all of these philosophical convulsions to arrive at the simple truth that the humans are better than the Borg, and they will return Hugh to them. Data is almost invisible to us in the episode, IIRC, beyond helping Geordi to craft a virus for Hugh to carry back to the Borg Collective. In truth, a properly functioning Data would have seen the "beauty" in Hugh, and would have probably been more interested in emulating him and other Borg in the Collective. Given his obvious superiority to humans, it would only make sense that he would want to join them, would it not? He could achieve machine perfection in this case. Or at the very least, he would have had a crisis of conscience equal to, or more severe than what the humans were feeling, although his crisis would be for different reasons. Again, the writers squandered an opportunity to explore this avenue.
In case you're wondering, I'm looking at this from the psychological angle, because that's just what I do.
hobbsyoyo
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I don't disagree with what you're saying and I don't think our assessments are really at odds either - he can fill both roles we've ascribed to him.I always found Data to be a plot contrivance where he served to illustrate the progress humans had made by the 24th century. His constant desire to be more human and human like is a direct dichotomy to the characteristics of an AI being. Assuming his programming included self learning (which it did) and he could modify his programming (which he seemed to be able to), he would eventually work out all of his bugs and be a perfect organism. The fact that he had presumably reached that state, yet wanted to be a flawed entity, like a human being, suggests that either he had a fetish of some sort, or aspired to be less than he was for reasons unknown. In reality, a being such as Data would undoubtedly realize his "perfect" nature and conclude that he was superior to humans, and not aspire to be one. The writers of ST:TNG unjustly anthropomorphized him into being a human wannabe for the purposes of creating drama, and a "lovable" character that the audience could relate to. His struggle to be human was a parable of our struggle to be better humans. His real impact on the series could have been much more profound, IMHO.
Witness the episode where the Enterprise finds the Borg that Geordi later names "Hugh" ("I, Borg"). The Borg are the baddies, but they are the logical extent of AI beings. The episode goes through all of these philosophical convulsions to arrive at the simple truth that the humans are better than the Borg, and they will return Hugh to them. Data is almost invisible to us in the episode, IIRC, beyond helping Geordi to craft a virus for Hugh to carry back to the Borg Collective. In truth, a properly functioning Data would have seen the "beauty" in Hugh, and would have probably been more interested in emulating him and other Borg in the Collective. Given his obvious superiority to humans, it would only make sense that he would want to join them, would it not? He could achieve machine perfection in this case. Or at the very least, he would have had a crisis of conscience equal to, or more severe than what the humans were feeling, although his crisis would be for different reasons. Again, the writers squandered an opportunity to explore this avenue.
In case you're wondering, I'm looking at this from the psychological angle, because that's just what I do.
I have said it before but I feel that in many ways he's a more tolerable Sheldon from Big Bang Theory. Especially in the first few seasons where the more annoying aspects of his character are apparent. Barely an episode went by in the first 3 seasons where people didn't shut him up for being obnoxious.
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