Tag: Humanity

Sojourner

On By Danielle O'ShayIn Flash Fiction, Original FictionLeave a comment

A quick write of a synopsis of a possible future book.  Someday, perhaps, it will be written.   

We walked on the moon in 1969.

We walked on mars in 2025.

We discovered light-speed travel in 2052.

By 2070 we were exploring planets outside our galaxy and creating new civilizations.

By 2080 we had created the perfect artificial intelligence systems.

By 2112 we touched where no one has ever touched before.  Humanity, spread throughout the farthest reaches of the galaxies, going deeper and deeper and deeper until we began to lose sight of the horizon, until we began to lose ourselves in the dust of eternity.  It was beautiful.  It was dangerous.  It was impossible.  We had paths reaching so far into the cosmos that those who left earth did not come back, nor did we ever hear from them again.  We could only stand on our shriveling planet in the light of a dying sun and hope with all hope that the brave men and women who launched themselves into the stars for the good of mankind survived, and continued to live out there among the spiraling light of distant planets.    

Continue reading “Sojourner” →

A Letter to Planet Earth

On By Danielle O'ShayIn Flash Fiction, Original FictionLeave a comment

This is written as a response to my last post, “A Letter to Mankind.”  It is inspired by the #ExtinctionEndsHere and #EndTheTrade petition, a worldwide movement to call on the world’s governments to permanently end the commercial trade and sale in markets of wild terrestrial animals for consumption.  You can sign here at this link.  Wildlife conservation and the preservation of our world is something very near and dear to my heart, and I would do all I can to call attention to the issues that surround our planet today.

Dear Earth,

We have done much to deserve retaliation.  We have felled your rainforests, we have spilled oil into your seas, we have slain your creatures for riches, oddities, even enjoyment.  And we do not look over our shoulders at what we leave behind—no.  We tend to only look ahead, to the future, to the next age of glory.  To what lays beyond our shores.

Continue reading “A Letter to Planet Earth” →

A Letter to Mankind

On By Danielle O'ShayIn Flash Fiction, Original FictionLeave a comment

Something I’ve wanted to write for many years, and this felt like the right time.  Inspired by Sea Legacy and Paul Nicklen’s video Extinction Ends Here.

Dear Mankind,

We have come to a great era of history, my friends, and you are to be congratulated on your perseverance.  Since the creation of the world—since time itself began—you have stood firm through every catastrophe.  You have stood your ground against every adversary, whether it be flood, or famine, or war, or the darkest despair that fate could cast upon you.  You have made this harsh world a home in spite of everything.  Castles and kingdoms you have raised from dust, empires you have built from sweat and blood, and through the strifes that have followed your triumphs you have continued to flourish.  Seven  and a half billion people—and I have watched you grow since the very beginning of it all.   

Continue reading “A Letter to Mankind” →

The Measure of Humanity: Part 4

On By A.J. ReevesIn Film Criticism, Literary Analysis, UncategorizedLeave a comment

I have gotten a bit philosophical on the definitions of humanity and the qualities that comprise aspects of it, but now I want to turn and instead look at what the motivations and treatment of the characters on these topics reveal about why this issue is explored in these stories. As is common in many Dystopian stories there is this overriding fear of mechanization, that humans will become obsolete as machines and engineering creating superior inventions. In Blade Runner, the replicants’ are perfect physically, stronger, faster, and in ways smarter. The replicants existence is a threat to the status quo and if allowed to gain emotions and live longer they could very well surpass humans at the top of the power hierarchy. Continue reading “The Measure of Humanity: Part 4” →

The Measure of Humanity: Part 3

On By A.J. ReevesIn Film Criticism, Literary Analysis, UncategorizedLeave a comment

One of the most primal reactions I can think of is the desire to live, to continue existing for as long as possible, to fight and scratch, and struggle to survive. The right to live is one we all desperately hold on to, the right to decide for ourselves to face tomorrow. In continuing to prove just how human he seems to be Roy says, “‘I want more life’” when asked what the problem is by Tyrell (Blade Runner). The desire to live, a conscious awareness of one’s continued existence and even more importantly a recognition that it will all end. Replicants are struggling to find agency in their lives, to make decisions about the way they live and what they do, and because their lives are confined to four years they are reduced to a limited number of experiences, to a limited existence. Data experiences a similar, if not slightly more logic bound, response to the possibility of his destruction. Continue reading “The Measure of Humanity: Part 3” →

The Measure of Humanity: Part 2

On By A.J. ReevesIn Film Criticism, Literary Analysis, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Star Trek: Next Gen paints us a very different but just as thought-provoking picture of an other struggling to gain a place in society. In the episode “The Measure of a Man” Data an android officer of Starfleet is ruled to be the property of the federation and therefore he can be dismantled in the pursuit of science. Captain Picard and Data challenge this ruling and have a court hearing to determine if as an android he possesses rights or not. In contrast to replicants, androids are in fact completely mechanical creations, lacking all biological components. They are made in the image of man, to serve and resemble and function as a human would. Commander Maddox, the scientist working to declare Data as property, when faced with the outrage of Captain Picard who considers Data an individual and sentient being, says, “‘You are endowing Data with human characteristics because it looks human. But it is not’”. Continue reading “The Measure of Humanity: Part 2” →

The Measure of Humanity: Part 1

On By A.J. ReevesIn Film Criticism, Literary Analysis, UncategorizedLeave a comment

I have always been fascinated by the idea that humanity is an intrinsic quality, one that is gained through life and experience, and that this quality is not necessarily constrained to mere humans. The question of what makes up humanity, who possesses it, and how can you measure its existence is one that has been explored in the science fiction genre for decades. I am interested in the concern specific works show over the idea as explored through whether or not mechanical engineered creations can possess humanity or even sentience. I want to explore the different ways Blade Runner and Star Trek: Next Generation delve into these questions, looking at the qualities and issues they investigate as well as the different concerns surrounding this debate as portrayed by the stances characters take.  The qualities that make a human deserving of rights are often ineffable and hard to define, and yet we hold our right to certain truths and respect to be self-evident. Continue reading “The Measure of Humanity: Part 1” →