One form of technology that appears in science fiction and is actually in many ways well under way today is the development of humanoid machines.
This technology will challenge traditional religious and philosophical definitions of the human being.
Defining the human being is a way of trying to understand what human beings are as a foundation for understanding the purpose of human beings in the universe. So, it has been a pervasive philosophical and religious question throughout history. Traditionally, the issue has been framed by comparing humans to other animals. Humans are defined by what they possess that other creatures do not – reason, the ability to create, the battle of conscience between good and evil, an eternal soul.
In science fiction and seemingly soon in reality, machines add a new dimension to how we look at the question of defining the human being.
Many characters in science fiction appear to be human but are in fact something else.
They may be aliens such as those in the television series “V” who appear human, but are reptilian creatures underneath.
More often in science fiction the nonhuman characters with human appearance are machines such as the cyborgs in the “Terminator” franchise, the cylons in the rebooted “Battlestar Galactica” and its spin-off, “Caprica,” or the replicants in the classic, “Blade Runner,” based on Philip Dick’s novel, “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?”
In some cases, the machines are programmed with memories and so are not even aware that they are not human. Such machines are extremely complex achievements of engineering involving a wide range of motion and sensory technology operated by highly advanced artificial intelligence.
And in our world, such A.I. technology is steadily and startlingly approaching what is envisioned in a lot of science fiction.
There are also shades in between such as characters that are human who become significantly infused with mechanical parts such as in “The Six Million Dollar Man” or “Bionic Woman” television series. The human who becomes part-machine is common in the superhero genre exemplified by Wolverine or Iron Man. Or, humans use a mechanical shell avatar-style; rather than controlling humanoid machines through artificial intelligence, humans mentally inhabit machines such as in “Surrogates.”
Some science fiction works explore the human motivations behind the creation of such humanoid machines.
For example, in “Surrogates,” people have strong and beautiful versions of themselves manufactured into which they plug in their minds. Often machines are created as a servant class for humanity such as in “I, Robot” or “Caprica,” or for military purposes, or as “pleasure models” such as Pris in “Blade Runner” or Joe in Steven Spielberg’s “A.I.”
These variations challenge traditional definitions of the human being in different ways than the comparison between humans and other animals. In science fiction, humans interact with humanoid machines in complex ways, even falling in love with cylons in “Battlestar Galactica.” Along with the philosophical question, ethical questions inevitably follow such as what responsibility humans have, if any, toward such constructions. “Bicentennial Man” and “A.I.” both explore these questions with android characters that become very humanlike and develop strong emotional relationships with people. Thus, science fiction presents challenges to traditional religious and philosophical positions, but these challenges prefigure issues that all people may be facing at some point in the future as such technology continues apace.
Br. Luke Devine is a monk of Saint Martin’s Abbey in Lacey.
Perspective is coordinated by Interfaith Works in cooperation with The Olympian. The views expressed are those of the author and are not necessarily endorsed by Interfaith Works or The Olympian.
