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Ex Machina And The Sparrow

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Artificial intelligence and first contact with an alien species are two popular science fiction topics. They are popular because they deal with something humanity might very well experience in the future. That raises an important philosophical question; How will humanity react when faced with a completely alien intelligence either man-made or extra-terrestrial? Iris Murdoch essay, “The Idea of Perfection” explains how humanity interacts with the unknown, or the sublime, by masking the sublime with knowledge and experiences already obtained previously instead of approaching it as incomprehensible. This theory is presented in the film “Ex Machina” and Mary Doria Russell’s novel “The Sparrow”. In both of these works the characters meet mysterious …show more content…

In “Ex Machina” Nathan informs Caleb that he will be testing an Artificial Intelligence. He has never faced A.I before, no one has, but the first time he meets Ava he treats her as if she was a machine. He seems completely surprised when she shows the ability to actually think and form her own thoughts and opinions. Just as Murdoch theorizes, instead of accepting the sublime as something that is impossible to fully understand, he is making connections with ideas he already possesses knowledge of, and in the case, Caleb is observing her as an advanced computer. Similarly, in “The Sparrow”, the crew discovers an alien song and begins to make assumptions about their technology, society, and even their emotions. This is perfect example of masking the sublime, this alien race, with ideas and generalizations made from the human point of view which is one that can only originate on Earth. According to Murdoch, morality is the ability to think clearly obtained by a focus on attention. Moral choices are only possible in a world observed in its true form. These characters fail in this aspect because they are not allowing themselves to see these mysterious objects as something they cannot completely comprehend. This acts as a self-inflicted blindness because their attention is focused on synthesized characteristics they put into place to help them rationalize the …show more content…

Caleb is too blinded by his attraction, and what one could call love, of this fabricated image of Ava. This mirage allowed Ava to manipulate Caleb into letting her escape and murder Nathan. Caleb can only stand back and watch in horror as this thing he believed to be closely associated with human locked him away and then unleashed itself upon the world. As such, the fantasy the crew in the “Sparrow” built for themselves did not allow them to see the true complexity of the world in which they found themselves in. Something as simple as planting a garden of earthly plants to feed themselves upset the balance of this world. A few seeds caused an imbalance to the unforeseen ecosystem and social structure ultimately ending in death and war. The characters in both of these cases could not act as moral agents because they didn’t allow themselves to see the real picture. They lacked the moral discipline and gave in to the impulse of

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