What will the world look like ?
Yesterday I had the urge to watch blade runner 2049.
The movie is based on Philip Dick’s short story. I haven’t read his books but I have watched almost all the movies that are adaptation of his short stories and I have loved all of them. This particular one is based in a world where humans have created replicants to do jobs that are either too hard for humans or the ones human’s don’t want to do. But these replicants are not really machines, they are biologically engineered so they look, feel and react like humans but are supposed to obey the humans.
Now if these replicants, just went about doing their job there wouldn’t be a story. But the danger of creating something bioengineered that has human emotions is that there eventually be a stage where you can’t tell the difference between the two. What if replicants can reproduce ? Who is the creator and who is the creation ? What happens when that equation changes? We will find out in the next movie.
With every new creation and advancement, there is always the side effect that you don’t see for a very long time.
First, the world changed because people were killing each other for resources, albeit land and food. We solved that with agriculture. As a side effect, there were more people than we ever had. There was a lot more to be made then what we could make with our own hands. We solved that with industrial revolution. As a result, people started traveling a lot more. It was important that we can communicate with each other and our family — fast!. So there was the technological revolution.
So here we are. We have created technology to help us but we have become it’s slaves. In some ways, we always have had something or someone control us. Be it fear, greed, anger or love. But we are good at figuring out how to advance without being controlled for too long.
I think in the case of the replicants vs humans, here are the options.
- Figure out how to co-exist without one controlling the other. Replicants are yet another tribes of people with their own right to live with freedom and equality.
- Humans destroy the ability of replicants to reproduce and gain total control.
- Replicants destroy humans and proceed as the stronger race. Survival of the fittest.
- Humans and Replicants mate and create a third race and then we go in recursion.
which one do you prefer ?
Why write about Blade runner ?
Growing up in India I watched a lot of Television. While I watched a lot of crap at the time (which I sadly regret) there are only few things that I fondly remember. Star trek, Spiderman and “Banegi apni baat”. Sci-fi, superhero and teen drama.
Then when I came to the US, I watched a lot of crap too. If I think back at what I most enjoyed watching in the last 15 years, it’s sci-fi(star wars, fifth element, blade runner) and documentaries. Now that I have wasted a ton of time, you get it — watching crap, I have learnt a few things that will hopefully help me not repeat some of the mistakes.
- I tend to binge watch. So better stay away from series.
- Just stick to sci-fi movies or documentaries. Don’t waste time in watching anything else.
- I forget name of characters, plot and theme of my favorite movies. That annoys me.
- So write a summary after watching them. Put myself in their world, ask some silly questions, come up with my own ending. Re-watch some of the favorites.