Gabriella Gallaga 2300.1 What is Human Bladerunner

In Bladerunner the movie encourages the viewers to battle out the idea of what defines a human. Personally I feel that not much can be argued about what defines a human past its own name-home sapiens. The word sapien comes from the Greek meaning "wise man", as a human being is the only creature aware of its existence. Rachael would make the best case study when it comes to the question if the robots in the film were self aware. She worries about her possible demise and the possibility (then certainty) of her being artificial made. But she does not fit all what defines a human. A human isn't made up only by it ability to be self aware. Part of where the name homo sapians come from is from the previous ancestor. It could be argued that the ancestor to the robot is the human. But robots cant organically create other robots, have variation of genes, or have adaptation. Which is why despite the robot eventually developing emotions similar to the humans, it still doesn't fit the human category.

Gabriella Gallaga 2300.01 The Monk 1

Ambrosio, the renown priest in Madrid, is first depicted as a very ridged. A stiff character as noted by Leonella, Antonia's aunt. It is not until he leaves the monetary where he is then comes across situations where the situations are not clearly marked with white and black. Antonia is a character who also suffers from an idealist view of human nature to a certain extent. She knows of death but she still views thing very optimistically. She is seen as the personification of innocent. Lorenzo dreamed her to be a bride blushing with virgin ideals. Lorenzo comes off as very rash and full of passion. It could be contributed to his age. There are several times where he almost gets into a duel simply because someone said something slightly disagreeable.

Gabriella Gallaga 2300.01 Did you like the stories? Why/why not?

It wasn't a secret that during Phillip K. Dick's lifetime, he suffered from paranoid schizophrenia. This had an effect on the themes of most of his writing. With his short stories "Imposer" and "The Cookie Lady", it was difficult to see them beyond standard and predictable literature. It is well written but no particular phrase stands out. There were twists towards the end, but nothing that really shocking or stirring. It is predictable. None of the characters are striking. In these stories, Dick did not put enough of an emotional investment to flesh out these characters. They had no striking personality, nothing to really attach the reader to the characters. So when misfortune struck these shells of personality, nothing of value is lost. By trying into account his mental disorder, it seems people are once again trying to create more interest than what was originally there. Maybe the illness drove him to write about such topics, but that does not mean that those stories should have have some kind of judgment curve. I am not discrediting Dick as an author. These are simply two stories from his massive collection of short stories and novels. I do disregard these stories to hold any real lasting value. They were forgettable.

Gabriella Gallaga 2300.01 Arguement against Humanity

Word Count: 469

Impostor story is about a man accused of being a robot spy housing an explosive bomb.Throughout most of the story the reader is lead to believe that the protagonist is simply a victim, caught up in the hysteria of the war. Even his long time friend and wife are leery of believing his profession of innocence. It is easy to believe that it could have been a misunderstanding considering the circumstances everyone was in. The war between the human colonist and the space invaders have made everyone unsure over their own personal wellbeing and the situation outside of war. In the beginning of the story there was an example was given how an entire forest burned up without anyone's notice. So the character goes around not able to prove his innocent until later when he was able to produce a mangled up corpse near a crashed alien "needle ship". Finally when he convinced the majority of the army after him, his close friend Nelson noticed something-a knife still embedded in the body's chest. The protagonist realization of his non existence cause the bomb to set off.

Humanity is simply defined by the definitions different populations give it. Biologists, for example, might define humans as a homo sapians, as a population who evolved from homo exerctus. They might explain that we are humans because we share similar physical traits with other members of the taxonomy family. Or if speaking strictly more philosophical level it can be what Daniel Quinn suggests in his novel Ishmael-what defines a human may not be just organic but the ability to think and reason. Phillip Dick also questions the idea of human identity. The robot clone considered its life precious, it felt fear, it was able to understand the wife concern.

Personally I view humanity as the same way as I view mind. Humanity is simply a label given to help identify a concept or idea. Humanity, just like mind, has no real limits to its definitions. It is shapeless. Its meaning completely depends on the person defining it. So to argue the existence or what defines it when something doesn't remotely have a uniform definition is not only impossible but fruitless. It is important to set up values and consider what is truly important to you. But there is no "one size fits all" behavior all people must be exhibiting to constitute its existence. All creatures express anger, sexual desire, hunger, fear. A dog not biting an pestering small child is no less of a dog because it exhibits self control. In the same way, these feelings are common, but not constantly expressing these often universal traits does not make a person less human. A dog not biting someone who messing with its food is no less of a dog because it exhibits self control. Same way a person who does no give in to every one of their physical desires is any less human.