The first show that I watched was Altered Carbon. It starts by introducing the main character Takeshi Kovacs who is shown looking out the window of a futuristic cyber-punk city. Before we learn what sleeves are, how they are transferred, and how they work the Russian woman would ask Kovacs “Have you always been such an asshole?” to which he replies “Every sleeve, every time”(5:10-5:25). Takeshi has obviously been transferred from body to body and says that he always acts the same. Even though his body is completely different from the one he was born with, Takeshi still knows who he is mentally.
The second show I watched was Star Trek: The Original Series with an episode involving the character known as Sargon. As he explains, his people were able to separate the “essence of their minds” into receptacles of pure energy (9:50-10:00). They would do this to leave “seeds” of their people across many different planets in the galaxy. However, when turned into these beings of energy, are they still the people they were originally or new conscious beings? Sargon talks about how the memories of his people and their conquests are long gone. If he cannot remember his past and who he lived with, is he truly still himself?
The last show I watched was the American cartoon Futurama. In this episode, aliens in the form of brains are attempting to take over Earth by making all its inhabitants lose their intellect. This relates to the Star Trek episode regarding the loss of memories and other key brain functions However, Futurama (Like most of it’s episodes) approaches most scenarios in a completely different way than most shows. Sargon lost his memories over thousands of years but kept his intelligence and abilities. On the other hand, Futurama shows the people of Earth in rebellion against themselves because they can’t comprehend anything on their own. Sargon may have had some form of his own personality left but those infected by the brains lost their memories, interests, and most importantly, their personalities.
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4 thoughts on “Analysis Blog #1”
Hi Jeremy,
I love the questions that you are asking in your paragraph about the Star Trek episode. They get a concept that we will be discussing later this semester, specifically our construction of an autobiographical self. Same goes for Kovacs in Altered Carbon. What does it mean to a person when you can—as long you can afford it—change your body by inserting your stack into another sleeve. Can we also think about this not only in terms of identity, but also cognition. Does Sargon think the same when he is in the orb as he did in his former body? When he took of Kirk’s body did that change the way that his mind works (since Kirk’s body is, literally, alien to him)?
I like the connections that you make between Futurama and Star Trek—especially as relates to cognitive function and memory. Can you say a bit more about how the Futurama episode treats and represents the mind? How do the Evil Brain aliens relate to some of the concepts that you learned about in this modules’ VoiceThread.
Jessica Hautsch
I second what the professor said, I love the question you posed about the Star Trek episode! I didn’t even pick up on Tasheki being transferred from sleeve to sleeve multiple times when I watched it, which is making me think I should give it a rewatch. The Star Trek and Altered Carbon episodes were especially interesting since their concepts were so similar to each other. Your analysis question for Star Trek feels answered by the quote you pointed out from Altered Carbon but also leaves it unanswered since the Star Trek episodes theory contradicts it. Very thought provoking!
Meghan Krulder
Hi Jeremy,
Fascinating analysis. As you asked in the Star Trek episode, Sargon talked about some of his memories long gone. Is he still the original Sargon? And the resurrection of Takeshi Kovacs, even though his body is different, Kovacs still knows who he is mental. These two examples confirm a connection between the mind and the body because their memory and consciousness emphasize who they are. That is to say, the world in which the body and cognition occur are inseparable, and once separated, they are not their original self. For example, embodied cognition, that is, cognition is not limited to the brain. The brain is not abstracted from the body itself, but we think through our body, which is part of our cognitive system, not separate from it. And cognition is based on our senses and specific bodily experiences, so we cannot separate our minds. And in Futurama, the aliens in the form of brains take over the earth by making all the inhabitants lose their intelligence. It is utterly inconsistent with the 4e cognitive theory because the mind and body are not separate things but part of an integrated cognitive system. Humans can’t be without emotional situations and have a sense. For example, distributed cognition is mentioned in Voicethread. The theory is that we cannot put our minds in our brains or bodies, but awareness occurs through our interactions with the environment, and cognition extends from our brains and bodies to the environment. We also think through the environment. Aliens in brain form are emotionless. Alien is alien, not human.
yichen8
Hi Yi,
I love the question you ask about Sargon, and whether or not he is still the “original” version of himself. This connects to something we will talk about later this summer–the idea that who we are, our autobiographical self, doesn’t just exist, but is constructed by us. Pretty heady (pun intended) stuff, and I look forward to discussing it with all of you!
Jessica Hautsch