3rd Article

I just came across an online book titled "Me Human, You Alien: How to Talk to an Extraterrestrial," byJonathan Vos Post. I began to read it and thought you all might enjoy. It is quite different from "The Mount," but I thought it was definitely unique and worth the read. Just wanted to post the link for anyone who's interested.

http://www.magicdragon.com/EmeraldCity/extraterrestrials/alien.html

Response to Graham

I believe that Carol Emshwiller was indeed making a point about slavery in all forms; however, I believe this was not her ultimate goal. To me, it seemed that she was attempting to point out the possibility that our society could resort back to human slavery. What would our attitudes be toward the issue? Would you identify with the special needs of a Hoot-like species or would you be a wild human?

In some ways, human are already slaves, whether it's to their work, the government, or an organization. I believe that in some ways, the author is making a statement about the different types of humans. Let's face it, there are those who will follow anything the government tells them and then there are others who will investigate for themselves the truth behind the government's "lies." I can see Charley as the ignorant human and his father as an independent thinker.

Just my $0.02.

Re: robot car race

It's funny you mentioned the robot car race on the blog. When I saw the news article about it, I immediately thought of last week's discussion of robots in the battlefield. Interesting topic in iteself, but I want to know why unmanned vehicles unnerve Sean. Are we nervous about not being in control of something that transports us, has our lives in its hands? How is that different from putting our lives in the hands of another human, say, a pilot of a plane or the engineer of a train, or (scarriest to me) the driver of a bus? Wouldn't it make sense that if used in the comercial field, unmanned vehicles would mean fewer human-error accidents? I can see not wanting to lose control of certain aspects of one's life, but I can also see the benefits.

Underwater intelligences

Jose wrote: "After studying Marine Biology last year, i was always intrigued by the way some underwater species have evolved over the years. I think it would be pretty awesome if another species evolved enough to potentially rival humans."

If you're interested in the prospect of underwater intelligences, Jose, you'll enjoy James Cambias' story "The Ocean of the Blind," on our syllabus later in the semester.

Of course, intelligence is not necessarily a survival trait. Witness the cockroach. It may inherit the Earth yet.

Re: "Don't Call It Science Fiction"

Three points:

1. I would not list the creator of Star Trek: Enterprise and the writer of the Blade movies among the great science fiction writers.

2. Whenever Hollywood comes out with a new science fiction TV series or new science fiction movie, the creators always deny it's science fiction. It's a thriller, they say, or a human drama, or a buddy movie, etc.

3. What could possibly be more fake than "reality TV"? How entertaining are "Survivor" contestants without a script?

PETA or Slavery Connection?

Since we will be discussing The Mount tonight in class, I thought I would bring up something that has been bothering me about the book. I could not help but feel that the author made certain connections between us and horses when the Hoots used us as mounts. Was the author trying to make a statement about the use of animals as beasts of burden? Some would say that you cannot compare us to horses since we are so much more intelligent. But the Hoots were supposed to be much smarter than us. In fact, they looked down on us as we look down on horses.

I get the feeling that the author wanted us to be upset with reading about humans racing and wearing bits just like horses. I could not help but think of PETA's recent efforts to change the poultry industry by comparing it to the Holocaust. Would PETA want to send out posters with horses riding us? Did she want us to feel how horses feel? If so, she did a good job. Was her goal to have us rethink using animals as servants? Or would it be easier to compare the plot to the abolition of slavery in the 19th century? Did the Hoots underestimate us, like others underestimated African Americans? Maybe she wasn't trying to make a statement on either point. I'll be looking forward to hearing what others think in our discussion tonight and on the blog.

Unmanned robots

Sean wrote: "I think that it is interesting/slightly scary that unmanned robotics appears to be looming closely in humanities future."

Sean, aren't robots always unmanned, by definition, and haven't we therefore had unmanned robots for years? Do you mean that the prospect of unmanned automobiles unnerves you, rather than unmanned robots per se?

unmanned robot car race

This article is about a contest held by our government in which 23 prestigous colleges built "robotic" cars to traverse a 128-mile offroad course. This contest came about after congress voted that war casualties should be decreased in the next 20 years with the use of unmanned technology. Only five cars finished the race, and the winning team (stanford) took home around 2 million dollars in prize money. I think that it is interesting/slightly scary that unmanned robotics appears to be looming closely in humanities future.



http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/science/
10/10/robot.race.ap/index.html