Sunday, December 25, 2016

Merry Christmas !!!!!!!!!!!!

       
Seems that we all get so busy this time of year that we forget what is REALLY important. This blog is going to be very short and sweet. I wanted all those unique and wonderful people around the world who visit my humble blog a very HAPPY HOLIDAY !!

No matter who you are or where you are on this special day I want you to enjoy and by all means have FUN !!

Friday, December 23, 2016

Westworld 2016

    



   
I have been watching the series Westworld that HBO produced. I have seen the original made many, many decades ago. I have also watched the sequel to that , Futureworld.  In the latter  the owners had a devious plan to replace the rich and important people with identical looking creations they can control. The new one has very interesting conversations between the characters. They even mention the bicameral mind. Of course I recognized it since I am familiar with the book, "The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind", by Julian Jaynes in 1976.  This subject is very, very complex and I will be back to it in another blog. I was  interested in this latest attempt by the entertainment industry to explain this technology.



    Because I actually build robots I have a very satisfying fascination with anything robotic. I have watched all the movies that deal with this subject. I am not always happy with the portrayal of these children of our collective genius. One I saw that was completely unknown to me was made decades ago and not very popular. It was , " The Creation of the Humanoids", in 1962. Google it and if you are interested download and watch it all. It may not made with computer generated images, but the dialogue is still interesting.



    As a fan of Isaac Asimov my view of robots have been influenced greatly by his writings. His approach was well considered and sensitive. Alas it seems nowadays that others fear the rise of the robots. This one word , ROBOT, is not easy to explain. I do not mean drones or this new fangled notion of having cars without those pesky humans behind the wheel. I mean autonomous artifacts that try to make there way in our chaotic world. I look forward to the day when these machines are able to actually have a conversation with us. However in many cases when I watch the results of Hollywood's very limited imagination I am made sad and at times mad.


  
   Once again , ad nauseam,in this HBO version, the creations are complex but still being controlled and manipulated by humans to do rather stupid things over and over again. The story has some interesting plots and subplots and the dialogue is so very cool and deals with rather deep subjects. I have to admit that some it leaves me scratching my head and it makes me think, which is always a good thing to do. One day soon someone will have the vision and courage to make something that deals with the very positive aspects of our future interactions with our robots. Where the future is a bright and cheerful place and ignorance and stupidity are banished into the dark corners. Of course this is an ideal request but not one that I feel is impossible. I have felt for many years now that these creations of our genius will help us survive and thrive!!


     I have to see this series to its conclusion and then I will see if it is worthy to be placed with my collection of movies that at least are trying to show how things might be. I know that whatever is done is done by us, with our minds, hearts and hands. As such I know that in this world , with some seven billion souls, there some good people ready to step to the challenge. As always I will be watching.

Thursday, December 22, 2016

I WILL BE BACK !!

        I love that line from the Terminator series. yes I have been gone too long. I am pleased that people from all over this world still take an interest in my humble words and ideas. I have not forgotten my work and the reason I have been not writing as much is that I have done a lot of thinking. I mean A LOT of thinking and questioning my ideas about robots. So as a video hero once said " hang on to your socks!"