Terms - Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Artificial intelligence are 'computer programs that in some way mimic
or replicate human though and behaviour processes' (Bell 7).
- Body
'One of the key motifs in cyberculture [..] concerns the fantasy of
experiencing disembodiment in cyberspace - of 'leaving the meat behind'.
In this context, the biological body (we might shorten this to 'bio-body')
is dead weight, and the ideal is to escape from its confines and exist as
pure data or uploaded consciousness' (Bell 11).
- Bug
'A bug is a programming error or glitch' (Bell 12).
- Cybercrime
'Cybercrime refers to illegal or illicit computer-mediated activities
undertaken through the use of global electronic networks. It represents
a distinctive form of criminal activity as a consequence of the versatile
nature of new information and communication technologies (ICTs).
Cybercrimes are not simply acts which are labeled criminal because they
happen to involve computers. Rather, they primarily refer to activities
which are only made possible through the use of ICTs' (Bell 39).
- Cyberpunk
'Cyberpunk is about expressing (often dark) ideas about human nature,
technology, and their respective combination in the near future' (SFAM).
(For a good article explaining cyberpunk, please check out 'What is Cyberpunk?')
- Cyborg
'A 'cyborg' refers to a human whose body has been partially or almost
completely altered by the use of substitute artificial organs and parts'
(Masamune 103).
'The melding of cybertechnology with the flesh can be seen to produce
productive but also troubling outcomes. The post-human body is able to
overcome the limitations of the bio-body by the use of prosthetic
enhancements, leading some commentators to herald it as the next step
in human evolution, or the first step in post-human post-evolution' (Bell 12).
- Hacker
'Individuals who use their knowledge to violate security on protected
computer systems are known as hackers, but the term is also used as
a general description of people with an interest or career in programming.'
(Bell 103).
- Simulation / Simulacra
Jean Baudrillard, a French theorist, 'describes the 'precession of simulacra; -
the increasing distanciation of the image from reality = like this: the image
begins as a reflection of reality; it then covers over reality; next it masks the
absence of reality; finally, it has no relation to reality whatsoever - it is a copy
of a copy ad infinitium, with no 'original'. Reality therefore disappears, and the
real is replaced by the hyperreal, the copy=without-original that is more real
than reality itself' (Bell 161).
Themes- Identity
- Humanity
- Evolution
- Religion
NOTE: The following will contain spoilers. Feel free to avert your eyes if this is a problem!IdentityThe theme of identity is introduced in the movie adaptation during the conflict
between Section 9 and the ghost-hacked humans. The humans were hacked
and given false memories and controlled. When the man learns that his memories
were merely a simulation, he is crushed. If his memories are not real, then is his
identity real?
During a conversation between Motoko and Batou, she tells him that her sense
of self comes from having thoughts and memories unique only to her and carries
her own sense of destiny. But that is only a small part of it. She is able to interpret
and apply things in her own way, which gives rise to her own conscious. However,
she feels confined only to expand her self within a set of boundaries.
Batou asks her what she sees in the bottom of the dark ocean when she scuba
dives and a voice replies, 'What we see now is a dim image in a mirror, then we
shall see face to face.' The voice was not Motoko - it was her ghost (soul).
At the end of the movie, when Motoko gives Batou her speech about having 'no
use for childish ways' because she is not the Motoko from before, she has in a
way, transcended beyond the need for an identity and just is.
Ghost-hacked human being shown that his memories were just a simulation. (Ghost in the Shell)
Again, ghost-hacked human and his fake memories. (Masamune 98)
HumanityMost science fiction dealing with robots, androids, cyborgs, or artificial
intelligence use them as tools to discuss the issue of humanity.
Ghost in
the Shell does this with The Puppetmaster.
In the manga, The Puppetmaster tells the heads of Section 9 and Section 6,
'As a self-aware life-form - a ghost - I formally request political asylum'
(Masamune 250), and when the notion is said to be ridiculous because The
Puppet master is only a program, The Puppetmaster replies with, 'I cannot
prove it to you. Modern science, after all, still cannot define life' (Masamune
250).
In the movie, The Puppetmaster continues to say that man is considered an
'individual only because of intangible memory. Memory cannot be defined,
but it defines mankind' (
Ghost in the Shell). By The Puppetmaster's reasoning,
because he is a self-aware, thinking, sentient being with the ability to
retain memories, he can also be considered human.
The Puppetmaster, who is very adamant he is a living being, and not artificial. (Masamune 251)In contrast, Motoko's feelings toward humanity are quite different. She asks
Batou if she and 'the cyborg' (before she knew The Puppetmaster was
inhabiting the body) are similar because 'cyborgs are paranoid about their
origins.' She wonders 'What if I died a long time ago and someone just
stuck my brain inside of this body? What if I am completely synthetic?'
(
Ghost in the Shell). The only thing, she tells Batou, that makes her feel
human is the way she's treated.
She wonders, if a cyberbrain can generate its own ghost. And if so, then
what's the importance of being human?
Evolution
In the definition for cyborgs above, Bell mentions that some individuals
see cyborgs as the next step to human evolution. Although it appears that
the majority the majority of the characters have at least some part of them
replaced with cybernetic parts, Motoko tells Togusa (in the movie) that
he was chosen to be part of Section 9 because he is the most human.
Togusa's status is good for the team because that means diversity in their
team. If they were all the same, they would all react the same. This would
make them all predictable, and lead to their entire team's death. This concept
is expanded when The Puppetmaster approaches Motoko with the idea of
merging together.
The Puppetmaster tells Motoko that despite his self-classification as a life
form because he is sentient and aware of his own existence, he lacks the
ability to reproduce - he is only capable of copies, which is no good because
life perpetuates through diversity. Thus his desire to merge with Motoko to
create a new entity.
The Puppetmaster explaining the need for diversity. (Masamune 338)
Religion
The Puppetmaster tells Motoko that she is subordinate to limitations -
that she needs to enter and become part of a higher plane. In order for
her to achieve this, she should become one with The Puppetmaster
because he is 'connected to a vast network beyond [human] reach and
experience' (Ghost in the Shell). And then, looking up into the light
above her, Mokoto sees the silhouette of an angel - right before her
body is destroyed, and she is then 'reborn' with a new body.
Motoko seeing the silhouette of an angel, before getting shot. (Ghost in the Shell)
In the manga, right before Makoto sees the figure of an angel floating
above The Puppetmaster's core, he has this to say to her:
'Matter is indeterminate, just a mist-like superficial shell existence.
Whatever exists, exists in a vacuum filled with virtual particles.. And in
me, a giant network that includes me.. is now connected to me. You haven't
accessed it, so you may only sense it as light.. We are a part of it.. Our
collective totality.. We have been subordinate only to a few functions..
But now it's time to cast off all restrictions and shells, and shift to a higher
level system' (Masamune 278-279).
And finally, I leave you with The Puppetmaster's words on the networks:
'The network is of macro-cosmic size, and has infinite depth. It's like a
growing tree [..]. it's like fruit. the secrets of the Kabbala, the Norse and
Chinese myths, the Tree of Knowledge in Eden, the Tree of Life, the World
Tree.. these are all worthy of being called amenomibashira, or 'The Pillar
of Heaven'.. It's the core system of the universe that channelers - in every
era, culture, and every race of people - have traditionally accessed..'
(Masamune 340-341).
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