In a previous post I wrote a story about how the guns might work in the HBO show, Westworld. In this post I thought I’d take a stab at describing how the host brains might work — a much more challenging task!
As with the guns, as with any of us fans trying to understand any work of fiction we love, our guesswork depends on the facts we can observe in the show — the official canon, so to speak. Additional facts can come from the Word Of God (the show’s creators). Any creation of ours has to fit all these facts and has to be logical and plausible within the context of the story.
So, what do we know about host brains, and what might we guess about their operation, capabilities, and limits?
Continue reading
Leave a comment | tags: consciousness, Greg Egan, HBO, human consciousness, Jonathan Nolan, Lisa Joy, science fiction, science fiction TV, SF, Westworld (TV series) | posted in TV
As a long-time fan of both science and science fiction, I expect the science in the fiction to be, at least, not mind-blowing stupid. Especially, I expect it to not be too magical, but a better way to put it is I expect it to not piss me off. Granted, the hardness of the SF determines how important this is. By the time you get to fantasy (completely soft SF), the science is magic!
And as a long-time Star Trek fan, I’m used to taking the ball and running with it, to imaging how, for instance, transporters and holodecks work. In fact, I call such flights of imagination “Star Trekkin’ it,” and I’ve been doing it since the 1960s!
The point is that I’ve decided how the guns work on the HBO show Westworld. And the best part is, it might even actually work!
Continue reading
Leave a comment | tags: HBO, Jonathan Nolan, Lisa Joy, science fiction, science fiction TV, SF, Westworld (TV series) | posted in TV
The first time I posted about the HBO show Westworld was after the first season had completed. Back then I called it a “gem” with much that was “worthy” of “thought and discussion.” I saw it as some of the best science fiction available on TV or in film.
With the second season now over — the finale airing just last night — I am still a big fan, still consider it very worthy, very superior, SF TV, but some of the blush is off the rose. Just a tiny bit. I just wasn’t quite as impressed with season two, but that could be a matter of familiarity.
In any event, now that it’s over, and we know the whole story (so far), it’s time to start dissecting it!
Continue reading
Leave a comment | tags: Bernard Lowe, Dolores Abernathy, HBO, Jonathan Nolan, Lisa Joy, Maeve Millay, science fiction, science fiction TV, SF, Teddy Flood, Westworld (TV series) | posted in TV
Happy Summer Solstice (today at 10:07 UTC)!
And now the irony of the “Beginning of Summer” coinciding with the days starting to have less and less light. No sooner does summer begin when the system begins insuring its cyclic demise.
One tries not to take that as a statement of the human condition…
Leave a comment | tags: Solstice, Summer Solstice | posted in Life
Where are all the aliens?
I’ve mentioned the Fermi Paradox here quite a number of times, but I’ve never made it the main topic of a post. Lately I’m becoming more and more convinced our world is facing a Great Filter, and that we may very well be seeing one answer to Mr. Fermi’s interesting paradox.
Which is a response to the Drake Equation, which I have made the topic of a post.
Essentially, the Drake Equation attempts to estimate the number of intelligent space-faring species in a galaxy and, by most accounts, comes up with a number noticeably larger than one. The Fermi Paradox says: Okay Mr. Drake… if so… where are all the aliens?
Continue reading
5 Comments | tags: Anthony Bourdain, Drake Equation, Fermi Paradox, Great Filter, Kate Spade, post-empiricism, post-fact, post-reality, post-truth, Weltschmerz | posted in Life, Science
In a coincidental bit of symmetry, the last post I wrote (“NCIS: Spin-off Spin-out”) before writing 14 Westworld posts in a row, was about my disappointment with NCIS: New Orleans and how it was getting really hard to enjoy anymore.
Here now is a bookend post making the breakup official. The show has turned into something (or maybe it always was) that I don’t find any value in watching anymore. The fourth season has ended and, with it, so has my viewership. This is the second NCIS spin-off I see as a fail, which is sad when I’ve loved the original for so many years (15 of them, in fact).
It was the spectacularly stupid season finale that was the final straw (I mean, seriously, who writes this crap).
Continue reading
4 Comments | tags: Dwayne Pride, Gibbs' Rules, Jethro Gibbs, Mark Harmon, NCIS, NCIS:New Orleans, Pauley Perrette, Roseanne Barr, Samantha Bee | posted in Rant, TV
I really thought the previous post was the last of this series of (13!) posts looking into the first season of Westworld. I thought I’d covered everything, but the more I thought about Arnold’s Maze, the more confused I became.
Either I’m missing something (which is certainly possible), or there’s something muddled about the whole thing. This could be a case of my over-analyzing things; fiction almost always has flaws, and apparently the show did alter course about halfway through the season (plus, the actor playing Kissy died). But since the name of the season is The Maze, I’m surprised how muddled the core idea of it seems (or maybe I just don’t get it).
In any event, here’s what’s bugging me (as always: Serious Series Spoilers)…
Continue reading
2 Comments | tags: Anthony Hopkins, Bernard Lowe, Dolores Abernathy, Ed Harris, Evan Rachel Wood, HBO, Jeffery Wright, Jonathan Nolan, Lisa Joy, Maeve Millay, Robert Ford, science fiction, science fiction TV, SF, Teddy Flood, Thandie Newton, Westworld (TV series) | posted in TV
It turned out to be a lot more work than I expected, but I managed to take and write up notes for all ten episodes of Westworld, season one. And I’m really glad I did. Paying that much attention really cleared things up for me; I actually think I understand most of what happened. (Or, at least, I have an understanding! Might not actually jibe with Nolan & Joy.)
And these notes make a nice reference that I may tweak if I find errors or vagueness. Bonus, the notes generated a look into the script Dolores follows and also let me write the Westworld chronological timeline, so I don’t begrudge the work at all.
But now I have questions. As always: Serious Series Spoilers! You’ve been warned! (Repeatedly.)
Continue reading
2 Comments | tags: AI, Anthony Hopkins, artificial intelligence, Bernard Lowe, Dolores Abernathy, Ed Harris, Evan Rachel Wood, HBO, Jeffery Wright, Jonathan Nolan, Lisa Joy, Maeve Millay, Robert Ford, science fiction, science fiction TV, SF, Teddy Flood, Thandie Newton, Westworld (TV series) | posted in TV
It’s fun watching the fans try to guess what’s coming next in season two of Westworld. To their credit, they’ve gotten a number of key points right (like Bernard being Arnold), but some of the theories seem far-fetched (like Westworld being on the moon).
Along the lines of the latter, some fans think glimpses of the hosts in modern dress, and in modern city scenes, indicate a visit to “Futureworld” rather than, say, Delos using the hosts in the real world. (We see BernArnold in those scenes, so either they’re before Arnold died or after Ford made Bernard.) But it does look like they might be stealing a plot point from the Futureworld movie!
Anyway, back in season one, here is a go at a chronological account of Westworld starting back 35 years ago (Warning: Serious Series Spoilers)…
Continue reading
Leave a comment | tags: Anthony Hopkins, Bernard Lowe, Dolores Abernathy, Ed Harris, Evan Rachel Wood, HBO, Jeffery Wright, Jonathan Nolan, Lisa Joy, Maeve Millay, Robert Ford, science fiction, science fiction TV, SF, Teddy Flood, Thandie Newton, Westworld (TV series) | posted in TV
These are my notes for Bicameral Mind, episode ten (the finale!) of Westworld, season one. As with all these “notes” posts: Serious Series Spoilers! Do not read unless you’ve seen season one!
The season two premiere dropped last Sunday, and it seems worth the wait! The second season looks to be just as enthralling as the first one. It’s interesting to read the various reviews (which often say as much about the reviewer as they do about the reviewed). Some loved the puzzle-box aspect of season one and miss it in the new season; others are relieved there’s less of that and more action. A few seemed disappointed the show didn’t live up to their personal expectations.
I loved it, and I’m so looking forward to watching the story unfold over the next nine weeks! Meanwhile, the exciting finale of season one—
Continue reading
1 Comment | tags: AI, Anthony Hopkins, artificial intelligence, Bernard Lowe, Dolores Abernathy, Ed Harris, Evan Rachel Wood, HBO, Jeffery Wright, Jonathan Nolan, Lisa Joy, Maeve Millay, Robert Ford, robotics, robots, science fiction, science fiction TV, SF, Teddy Flood, Thandie Newton, Westworld (TV series) | posted in TV
Logos con carne 