Blog Assignment #8 -- Course Reflection/The End of the Road

Wow, it's been a tough and long couple of months but i'm glad I took up this course. It gave me an insight into things and topics that I have never thought about on a deeper lever such as human consciousness, the future of the human race as well as robots, clones and machines. My thinking about these subjects have changed greatly and I have become more interested in learning about these topics and doing research to follow the development of these changes and the development of the future robots and how they will come to life. I will also like to see if one day my thoughts and reasoning will one day be challenged and to see if robots do in face become more like humans than  I had ever thought. These topics were just little fictional thoughts I used to have as a kid and as time goes on and the future becomes closer and closer and these new findings and developments come about it seems as thought comic books are more real than they seem. LOL. My writing to me has become more in depth and it is definitely easier for me to find research, come up with quotes and cite and explain them better than I had known to do so before. Overall this course has sharpened my writing and my thinking on subjects and topics that I had never really thought about deeply and it was a great experience with great people.

Until Next Time ;)

Chris

Blog Post #7 *Late*

In Churchill's play "A Number" it is showing the effects of a man cloning his son and how it affects the son and the father's life. The son clearly cannot forgive his father for doing such a thing to him and I feel as though this does a great job of showing the real reaction of how someone would feel about being cloned and having to come to terms with this later on in life and it also shows the real reaction of a father's regret for doing something he later regretted. Imaginative texts and stories give us an insight into real issues by using futuristic examples and bringing them to life in ways that make sense and can paint clear pictures of what will possibly happen in the near future and how people will react to these changes that no one will understand at first but will soon come to terms with it in the end. I feel as thought Churchill's play greatly takes on the realities of situations that people may someday face and the reactions and outcomes of these decisions that people will make. There is never a clear answer of how someone will react and what they will do in the future but I feel as though Churchill does a good job at trying and using the thought process of today and applying it to the future of robots and clones.

Blog Post #5 *Late*

I see myself as more of a pessimistic when it comes to the future and the future of the human race and robots. I don't feel as though they will live up to all the hype and the pictures painted by the media. To me, robots will walk and live among us one day but as far as them being better than us, that is where my doubt comes into play. Yes a robot can be smarter than a human but I don't think it will ever be "better" or exceed us to a certain degree. Robots can be smarter than us, I have no doubt about that but when it comes to being better than us there is just no way, we have and are capable of doing things that robots cannot. Robots are merely programmed to do as they are told which is different from humans clearly. We have the ability of free will and robots don't, also we can feel emotions and make emotional connections with things such as the arts and our families but robots cannot do this which is where I agree with Gelernter. They can only experience certain things in life so my view of them is very pessimistic. Gelernter touches on these points in his essay which is why I lean more towards what he has to say, there is more of connection of view points between me and his essay and I just do not have as much hope for future robots as Kurzweil does.

Dear Future Students, Read This Or Die

As far as advice for future students, I would just say, stay on task, get everything done on time and make sure you use the lab time to your benefit. Try to focus yourself even though it will be hard being with your class mates for so long and becoming so comfortable but at the end of the day it is your grade and not everyone else's and no matter what you do you will be graded for your own work. Read the syllabus and make sure you know when everything is due and how much of the work needs to be done in a certain amount of time. I wished I knew how rigorous and how much work would be into this course before I started it because I would have managed my time better and made the best of it because at the end of the day this course is only here to help you.

Enjoy your future in 103 and make the best of it ;)

Chris .

My ENG 103 Research Plan #1

Thesis Statement: Based on several sources I will argue that the portrayal of altruism in Roger Mitchell's "Enduring Love" shows the difficulty of cooperating together based on selfish genes.

Two sources needed: I want to buy the book to the film just to delve deeper into the story and its explanations as well as the emotions behind the actions. The movie only goes so far so I would like to get a hold of the book and read into it. Another source I need is an article written by someone or a detailed paper about the topic.

I will be using LexisNexis as well as Gale to find my sources as well as more sources to push the paper and to push my argument as well as back up my claims.

My Thesis Statement

The film Enduring Love, is a great portrayal of altruism and the fight for survival. The portrayal of characters in the films and how they are developed, ultimately challenges the ideas of Dawkins by stating and showing that altruism does happen and does develop in people and it's difficult to control in different people.

*Work in Progress*

Research Paper Topic Freewrite.

The research topic that I am going to be writing about is #4 "Portraying Human Minds in Film". The option that I am going to base my paper off and my research off of is going to be the film Enduring Love. The film highlights people stalking each other and becoming obsessively in love with a person due to a tragic event that they both shared. The illness that is focused on is called Erotomania and this is the act of believing that a stranger is in love with you and this can be caused by having bi-polar disorder or schizophrenia. The person experiencing this will become delusional and feel that they have more than one secret admirer and this is portrayed in the movie Enduring Love where the main character goes through a tragic event with another man and the man becomes obsessed with him and won't let him forget what happened so he begins to stalk him and see follow him everywhere he goes. This topic is interesting to me because I hadn't known that there was an actual condition that is considered "stalking" or being "obsessed" I simply thought they were just terms people used, I had no idea it was an actual mental illness.