The three episodes for this module, Altered Carbon, “Out of the Past,” Futurama, “The Day the Earth Stood Stupid,” and Star Trek, “Return to Tomorrow,” are all centered around the brain and cognitive function both in and outside of the body.
In Altered Carbon, the body is considered a sleeve into which different individuals’ consciousness can be uploaded. The consciousness is not a physical brain but more like embedded cognition that comes in the form of a cortical stack (disc) inserted into the spinal column of an interchangeable sleeve (body). A person can stay alive for eternity moving from sleeve to sleeve, as long as the cortical stack remains intact; if it is destroyed, death is permanent. A short scene in this episode stuck out to me the most. A young girl was killed by a hit-and-run driver, and the government told the family they would receive a new sleeve for their deceased child. When this young girl received her sleeve, she was embedded into an old woman even though she was no older than 8. When the parents complained, they were told that she was lucky to have received any sleeve at all, and if they wanted an upgrade, they were welcome to pay for one; if not, just to shut up and go away. When the little girl heard this, she cried and said no, she did not want to go back into the dark. This scene made me realize that the show’s foundation was not about the physical body and the connection to its consciousness but the power of the consciousness as it correlates to any physical form.
I am a Futurama fan, though I haven’t watched it for quite some time this episode, “The Day the Earth Stood Stupid,” was one of my favorite ones. This episode starts at a talent competition for the people in New New York after the talent show concludes, Leela is attacked and escapes floating brains bent on making people on Earth stupid. The brains achieve this, and everyone but Frye is turned stupid, and that is because Frye is already stupid, so it doesn’t work on him, which makes this episode hysterical. In this episode, there is no connection between a body and the brains that have attacked earth. According to the Niblonians, the brains hate all consciousness and want to make everything in the universe stupid. I feel like this episode would be considered extended cognition because the brains can create stupidity in any living being and do not possess bodies or need them to create destruction.
I am not a Trekkie. However, I have some family members that grew up loving Star Trek, and I do remember watching a few episodes at family get-togethers. In this episode, “Return to Tomorrow,” the USS Enterprise happens upon a new planet whose inhabitants are so powerful they direct the Enterprise to its location. According to the ship’s system, the planet has been dead for half a million years, but a voice that can read thoughts and communicate with or without words tells Captain Kirk and his crew that this is not true; life is on his planet. Captain Kirk is inhabited by an alien after being coerced to beam to the planet he and his crew were led too. This episode would define embodied cognition because once the alien inhabits Captain Kirk, he is so enamored with Captain Kirk’s body with the heartbeat and the air filling his lungs. These beings need bodies to survive; unlike the brains in the Futurama episode, their survival depends on physical form.
6 thoughts on “The Consciousness of One; The Brain Power of Another.”
Hey Christina!
I also have not watched my fair share of Star Trek but as you said it you will always know some people that are Trekkie’s. I do agree with you that this episode reflected embodied cognition especially with the scene you pointed out. When Sargon put his consciousness in Captain Kirks body, he seemed like he was free. It was as if he wasn’t really living, and this finally made him feel alive again. I find this extremely interesting, but it makes sense. I mean really it makes I don’t think I could live without actually feeling my emotions physically, do you?
Alesha Gutierrez
it is amazing how the writer of the show put it in such a perspective. I know I would not be able to live without feeling my emotions on a physical level either. It is also amazing in Scifi how someone can take over another mind or body. When we really think about how all of it ties together we are essentially using this body as it is our vessel. Sargon was taking the souls from people to gain strength. you bring up a good point that he was not actually living in order to have to take others bodies for use. I also never really got into star strek or starwars. Altered Carbon is definitely cool and more my speed. Futurama is one of those shows that was popular throughout older generations and younger. I did not watch it all the time but I definitely find it funny.
ellryan
Hi Alesha,
Yes! This is such an important part. Our bodily sensations play a huge role in how we construct an understanding of our emotional experience. If we don’t have a body to feel with, how can we have feelings?
Jessica Hautsch
I agree with the scene in Altered Carbon being very emotional. The whole show felt very dystopian and the scene confirmed my opinion. Putting an 8 year old girl’s conscious in the body of an older woman felt very cruel and dismissive. She would not be able to enjoy her life as before, seeming rather unfair because her death was out of her hands. I think it slightly emphasizes the importance of the body, even though the government places no value on the body. I agree that the power goes to the mind, but put into the wrong body, how far can the mind really achieve? I have never watched Futerama in my life, but I can see how it is a classic favorite. I enjoyed how it incorporated extended cognition and displayed. How funny and very realistic is the idea of stupidity being the downfall of society?
April Myint
The scene with the little girl in Altered Carbon really made me think as well. If the government is so calm with basically placing a little girl’s brain into the body of an elderly woman, when does the mind or soul actually pass on? If the mind can be linked to serval different bodies over many years, is that consciousness even the same being anymore? There are so many questions that arose from that show I found myself constantly pausing to think about what was going on. I also love Futurama and seeing that episode from this new perspective is definitely something to think about as well.
jjwaterman
Hi Christina,
Glad to hear that you are a Futurama fan! We will be watching another Futurama episode during Module #3 as we think about empathy and embodiment. And who knows, by the end of this class, you might end up being a Trekker as well! We’ll be watching a few more Star Trek episodes (though they will be The Next Generation, not the original series).
I like the connection that you are making between the Futurama episode and the concept of extended cognition that you learned about. Theories of extended cognition argue that our brains are not isolated from our environment, but that we think with and through them. For example, making a list so that you don’t forget to pick something up from the store. Your list is doing some of the remembering for you. I think that this could potentially connect to Leela and the note that the Nibblonians attach to her. We might argue that it is remembering her message to Fry for her.
Jessica Hautsch