June 18, 2015. Myths and Innovation Our mythic imagination reflects our desires for mastery,...
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Transcript of June 18, 2015. Myths and Innovation Our mythic imagination reflects our desires for mastery,...
June 18, 2015
Myths and Innovation
Our mythic imagination reflects our desires for mastery, magical or scientific
Our mythic anxieties shape our resistance tp innovation and mastery
Cultural Interpretation
Biopolitics of Pop Culture Fantastic fiction shapes the public’s thinking
about emerging technologies
Frankenstein, Brave New World, Matrix, Gattaca become shorthand for commonsense objections
Fantastic fiction depicts social and philosophical issues in abstracted form, more often with implicit bioconservative messages
Utopias are boring, and complex futures take more work
Radically transformed humanity is hard to empathize with
We need more sophisticated pop culture images of the future
Audience Trends The audience
The evolving demographics of fantasy, SF, horror fans
The expanding demographics of fantastic fiction in television, film and games
Socio-political trendsAnxieties about immigrants, minorities, foreign
threatsAnxieties about technology and personal identity The expansion of liberal democratic citizenship
Media Influence Massification of fantastic literature, film and
TV in 1980s
Literary SF is more sophisticated than film and TVLiterary SF more subcultural, film/TV SF more
popular
Film and TV have become darker and more complexMy Favorite Martian, Mork and Mindy, Alf vs X-
Files, Babylon Five, Battlestar Galactica
Five Categories of Other
Aliens Machine minds Animals modified for
intelligence Post-humans Other intelligent
species from Earth
Top Grossing Films None of the top 25 grossing films of 1965
had non-human intelligence or future biotech
3. Guardians of the Galaxy – aliens 4. Captain America: The Winter Soldier – posthumans, aliens6. The Hobbit pt 3 - – non-human intelligent species7. Transformers: Age of Extinction – machine intelligence8. Maleficent – non-human intelligent species9. X-Men: Days of Future Past – post-humans11. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes – uplifted animals12. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 – post-humans13. Godzilla – non-human intelligent species15. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – uplifted animals16. Interstellar – robots, aliens17. How to Train Your Dragon 2 – non-human intelligent species25. Lucy – post-humans
Political-Economy Cycle Kiser and Drass (1983): # of utopian novels goes up with
depressions and “hegemonic decline” in UK & US, 1883-1975.
Io9 analysis of Dr. Who’s revolutionary aspirations:
US Imperialism & Prime Directive Annalee Newitz’ study
Immigrants, Racism, Foreigners If negative Other
images reflect xenophobia we would expect them in more xenophobic groups and times
Since SF fans are more liberal, more positive depictions in lit than film and TV
Expansion of Empathy, Citizenship
Liberal democracies define citizenship based on psychological capacities, not physical characteristics
This expands citizenship to non-human persons
Withdraws citizenship from embryos and the brain-dead
The Measure of Man
SF Consumers are Different SF consumers were more opposed to animal
experimentation especially for “higher” mammals
Figure 1: Science Fiction Consumption and Opposition to Use of Animals in Medical Experimentation
fish rats birds cats dogs wolves chimps bears dolphins
High SF Consumers
Low SF Consumers
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80% Hughes, James. Aliens, Technology and Freedom: Science Fiction Consumption and Socio-Ethical Attitudes Futures Research Quarterly, Winter, 1995, 11(4): 39-58.
Problems Cult favorites (Lord of the Rings,
Evil Dead)
Elite vs. mass influence (Lovecraft)
Cumulative down list volume (monster movies)
Extraordinarily positive Others, applications of tech
Boundary definitions (supernatural creatures, talking cartoon animals)
Minor characters versus major characters (Gremlins)
Plot twists (silvers in Sarah Connor Chronicles)
Anti-technology Tropes
Novel technology causes evil, unintended consequencesDeadalus & Icarus
Evil scientists Dr. Faustus
The desire for longevity mastery or intelligence is evil, has unintended consequences
Evil, Tragic, Repentent Immortalists Most images of people who want more
life are negative
Only sanctioned salvation can provide immortality, otherwise its evil
Doctor Frankenstein The desire to reanimate the
dead will have bad, unintended consequences
Dr. Frankenstein is willing to unleash those consequences in the thoughtless pursuit of scientific mastery
Does it inform our thinking about cardiac defibrillators or organ transplantation?
Animal Uplift and Chimeras The Island of Dr. Moreau (1896) Planet of the Apes (1963-2017) Splice (2009)
Brave New World State managed eugenic
inequalityIn-vitro fertilization?Free genomic choices in a
democratic society?
Birth control, sexual freedom Safe happiness drugs
Have Prozac, sexual freedom and reproductive choice robbed us of humanity or distracted us from political struggle?
Pro-technology Tropes
Promethean tech heroes Wells’ Things to Come (1933, 1936)
Millennialism & utopian futureVerne, Bellamy, Gernsback, Star
Trek
Loyal servant
Elisions of Star Trek
Genetic engineering and cognitive enhancement are banned
Limited use of the transporterMedical use explored in one
episode
AI is rare, and has a Pinnochio complex
Genomic Choice
Gattaca (1997)
Its not evil to help parents have healthier kids
That future could fix his heart
Lying to NASA so you can die in space is not heroic
Cloning Doppelgangers, evil twins
and stolen identities Sleeper (1973) The Boys from Brazil (1978) The Sixth Day (2000) Star Wars: Attack of the
Clones (2002) The Island (2005) Never Let Me Go (2010) Cloud Atlas (2012)
Why would clones have fewer rights, or be more manipulable, than other humans?
Servant Races
Blade Runner (1982)Is the creation of genetically enhanced people evil?Or is corporate power, racism and the intentional engineering of subservience?
Cloning Extinct Species
Jurassic Park (1993-2015)Cloning a mammoth or a Neandrathal?
Wireheading and Brain Pacemakers 1963:
"Electrical self-stimulation of the brain in man." by Dr. Robert Heath.
1972: Epileptic self-stimulated thousands of times for hours; “protested each time the unit was taken from him, pleading to self-stimulate just a few more times...”
Terminal Man (book 1972, film 1974)
Sleeper (1973) – Orb, Orgasmatron
Cognitive Enhancement
Flowers for Algernon (1959, Charly 1968) Awakenings (1990) Lawnmower Man (1992) Limitless (2011) Lucy (2014)
Enhanced Soldiers
Robocop (1987)
Wolverine
Captain America
Countless others
Is the problem militarism or the enhancements?
What Kind of Images Do We Want? Orginal vision of cyberpunk: to
break with utopian and dystopian visions, and depict a gritty future
Beyond the demonized or valorized Other to the complex and gritty Other
For culture creators and audiences to be as sensitive to biopolitical tropes as they are now to racist images