Artificial Intelligence is undoubtedly a hotly debated topic in today’s society, with many concerned that it will soon enslave humanity and others saying that it’s harmless and only here to help us. Many sci-fi movies, such as the infamous 1984 film produced by James Cameron, The Terminator, portray robots as becoming knowledgeable and taking over the world. Humanity creates an artificially intelligent program known as Skynet, which becomes completely cognizant and overthrows the world by initiating a nuclear holocaust. In the aftermath, a group of survivors creates a resistance that attempts to destroy the program, however they are met with the challenge of defeating Skynet’s cyborg army. Skynet sends a terminator, played by Arnold …show more content…
Nick Bostrom, a philosopher and the University of Oxford, states that, “...superintelligence could emerge, and while it could be great [...] it could also decide it doesn’t need humans around” (Ford). This philosopher, like many other technology critics, can see the effects that artificial intelligence may have on our future, however there is always the select group of people who cannot foresee the consequences of their actions. For example, Victor Frankenstein was introduced to science at a young age and when he went to college at Ingolstadt he met Professor Waldman shared a similar scientific interest. Waldman proclaimed,”If your wish is to become really a man of science [...] I should advise you to apply to every branch of natural philosophy…” much like how Waldman himself devotes his life to all branches of science (Shelley 29). However, this sparked Victor’s interested and caused him to not immediately realize the ramifications of his attempts to bring the dead back to life, which lead to the death of Victor's loved ones and the destruction of his world. The entire human race in The Terminator closely resembles Victor Frankenstein considering that humans create the superintelligent program, Skynet, which is supposed solely defend the nation’s cyber network, however it ends up taking over the world. This is extremely similar to Victor's situation, in which both he and humanity neglect
"A Hermit is simply a person to whom society has failed to adjust itself." (Will Cuppy). In the gothic novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley we follow the life of Victor Frankenstein in 18th century Germany. Shelley displays a recurring theme of isolation and how it drives once good people to do terrible things. If civilization does not adjust itself to a creature of any kind they will be forced into isolation and ultimately self destruction.
For as long as man has encompassed this world, the divisive enigma of humanity has prevailed. Seeping its way into each generation, while sparking heated conversations, it has become evident that there is much we do not know about what truly makes us human. Regardless of our genetic composition, philosophers often ponder the deeper meaning of humanity. We know that, biologically, recreating the genetic makeup of a human does not yield humanity, so what is the missing aspect? Humans -have the ability to contemplate their own existence in this world. Awareness of existence. This driving force enables us to analyze situations while placing ourselves within them. Our involuntary ability to understand the impact of our actions and the affect they have on others causes us to be inherently human. Our actions evoke strong emotions within us that allow us to learn through our experiences. We retain the resonated feelings of certain occurrences and apply them to others in order to deduce outcomes. Often this facet of mankind is taken for granted, yet we are reminded, through both literature and hypothetical scenarios, of its importance. Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, constitutes as one of these profound reminders. Shelley develops a theoretical story in which the humanity of Frankenstein’s monster is questioned. Despite having the accurate organs and framework of a human, Shelley causes the reader to seek the missing aspect that is preventing the monster from being human. Likewise,
Every work is a product of its time. Indeed, we see that in Frankenstein, like in the world which produced its author, race, or the outward appearances on which that construct is based, determines much of the treatment received by those at all levels of its hierarchy. Within the work, Mary Shelley, its author, not only presents a racialized view of its characters, but further establishes and enforces the racial hierarchy present and known to her in her own world. For the few non-European characters, their appearance, and thus their standing in its related hierarchy, defines their entrances into the narrative. For the Creature, this occurs on the ices of the Artic, when, “atop a low carriage, fixed on a sledge and drawn by dogs, pass on towards the north, at the distance of half a mile;” Walton and his men perceived, “a being which had the shape of a man, but apparently of gigantic stature.” (Shelley 13) Shelley clarifies, even this early in her novel, the race of its principal Other as soon after the intrepid adventurers rescue its namesake, Victor Frankenstein, who, Shelley clarifies, “was not, as the other traveller seemed to be, a savage inhabitant of some undiscovered island, but an European.” (Shelley 14) Later, closer examination of the Creature reveals a visage and figure of near unimaginable disfigurement, with a “shrivelled complexion,” and yellow skin which “scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath.” (Shelley 35) This could be contrasted directly
Alienation is a product of society’s inherently discriminatory bias, catalyzed by our fear of the unknown in the realm of interpersonal conduct. Mary Shelley, in her novel, Frankenstein, dissects society’s unmerited demonization of individuals who defy—voluntarily or involuntarily—conventional norms. Furthermore, through her detailed parallel development of Frankenstein and his monster, Shelley personifies the tendency to alienate on the basis of physical deformity, thereby illustrating the role of the visual in the obfuscation of morality.
The critique of Victor’s carelessness mirrors the new technologies that humanity tries to innovate upon society. Shelley reflects on the demise in the progression of humanity because this will only further remove us from our compassion and identity [p. 266- Mary Shelley bio]. Thus, science in Shelley’s novel offers no hope, only death for both mankind
Although Frankenstein is a fictional story, I think in many ways it is representative of Mary Shelley personal views in her everyday life. Mary Shelley was raised by her father after her mother passed and because of that they always had a rocky relationship even after her father remarried. Mary fell in love with one of her father’s political followers, Percy Shelley and they got married although her father did not approve of their relationship because of the age difference. Throughout their relationship, they faced many obstacles that made it hard for their relationship to work, but it did. This aspect of her relationship is show through Elizabeth in the novel because it shows how hard women will work to make a relationship work even when
In Frankenstein, written by Mary Shelley, the creation, made from scraps of corpses, was built by Victor Frankenstein, a man fascinated and obsessed with the knowledge of life. Following the creation’s rouse, Victor immediately abandons him with no desire on keeping or teaching his new being. Because of his lack of nourishment and direction “growing up”, the creation goes through a process of self-deception. He endures a period of deceit by believing that he is a normal human being like everyone around him. But as time progresses, he learns to accept how he is alone in this world and disconnected with everyone. Because of the creation’s lack of guidance and isolation, he grows up feeling unwanted.
John Locke is one of the most influential Enlightenment thinkers and is famously known for asserting that all humans have natural rights. He also believed that humans are born with clean slates, and that the environment humans grow in, especially at a young age, has massive influences on aspects of their personalities, ideals, and motivations. Shelley was most definitely influenced by this claim when writing Frankenstein. As the reader, we can see the monster that Victor Frankenstein creates grow up alone, without guidance, and be formed by the experiences it is put through while trying to survive. Its emotions and beliefs throughout the book were merely a result of its experiences as it encounters the harsh reality of the world. Mary
Human Nature can be defined as “the ways of thinking, feeling, and acting that are common to most people”. Many people are attracted to compassion and sympathy through the love of a person whom cares very deeply about them. In Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, the three main characters Robert Walton, Victor Frankenstein and Frankenstein (The Monster) are shown throughout the story, longing and in search for a companion. Throughout the story, the characters struggle with the battle of wanting either sympathy or compassion from a person or both. Mary Shelley shows the true indication of Human Nature by showing the importance of sympathy and compassion through the main character’s desires and pain.
Frankenstein thinks that everything is alright now, but Elizabeth has a premonition that the monster will return, and she warns her fiancé that she fears some harm is going to befall him. At the same time, during the entire village’s celebration, the father of the dead girl carries her lifeless body though the streets for all to see. The shock crowd stops its celebration, stunned and outraged over the death of Maria, and they demand justice from The Burgomaster (mayor) and local police. By nightfall, the angry mob has organized into torch carrying search parties to find the murderer. Frankenstein is determined to destroy the creature, and leads one of several groups looking for the monster, up the mountainous terrain.
The idea of Artificial Intelligence began as a mere philosophical idea, simply a puzzle that provided food for thought for curious minds. In the 1940's, however, with the invention of the first computers, the notion then had the means to transcend simple abstract speculation and became a rather alluring potential actuality and goal in the technological community. It was not until the 1950's, however, that the link between human intelligence and machines was really observed spawning a technological boom that would precipitate to immense proportions, entirely reshaping our daily lives. Today, "Researchers are creating systems which can mimic human thought, understand speech, beat the best human chess player, and countless other feats never before possible" (The History of AI 1). The rapid fervor to which the researchers latched on to the further development of this infant technology, coincides eerily to that of the intense desire Shelley portrayed in Victor as he literally emptied his entire soul and being into his obsession of creating life. As Victor so splendidly illustrates a quest of this sort and in this manner is blinding and for this reason scarily dangerous. For just as Victor stood dumbfounded and
Knowledge can cause a numerous amount of problems for those who choose to pursue it. That is if they decide to traverse on the more taboo sides of the sciences instead of staying inside the societal norms that have been set up. This is one of the more prevalent themes in Mary Shelley 's Frankenstein. Among the themes of loneliness and revenge you have the one out standing theme of knowledge being dangerous. The pursuit of knowledge has caused some of the greatest horrors in the world of man and this is an evident theme in Mary Shelley 's Frankenstein.
Our society has a very acute perception of what is and what is not normal, predicated through our upbringing and life experiences. For instance, people are viewed as weird or foreign if they have a disability. Frankenstein by Mary Shelly is about a creature that is created by Victor Frankenstein. The creature wants to understand why he was made, what his purpose in life is and why he isn’t accepted by society; in order to fulfill these needs the creature try’s to connect with his creator Frankenstein. However, Frankenstein does not want to have any personal contact with the creature. Understandably, the creature wants to connect with Frankenstein because the creature sees Frankenstein as normal and wants to be like Victor. On the same front, Frankenstein does not want to connect with the creature because he views the creature as abnormal. As a result, the creature threatens Frankenstein and ends up killing most of Frankenstein’s family and friends to purposely hurt Frankenstein. Mary Shelly shows that despite someone’s power and knowledge, acceptance in society is not guaranteed.
Another illustration of the need of equality can be seen in the Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein in which the protagonist, Victor Frankenstein, spends his time in college reviving a corpse. Throughout the novel, the Monster is judged and is awfully mistreated based on his looks. For example, when the Monster tries to attain food by entering a hut, “the children [shriek]…[as] some [villagers] attack [him]” (Shelley 74). Due to the Monster’s appearances, the whole village immediately believes he was evil, which provokes them to attack. This is unfair treatment because the Monster was not even looking for a fight. Hence, this mistreatment validates that there is a need for equality regardless of one’s appearances. Nevertheless the monster