For reference in this post (please use AdBlock): http://www.upstreamis.tv/ghost-in-the-shell-1995/
Humanity is portrayed in two distinct lights in Ghost in the Shell: the existence of human beings as “ghosts,” and the existence of the Puppet Master. The Puppet Master says, “The advent of computers, and the subsequent accumulation of incalculable data, has given rise to a new system of memory and thought parallel to your own (00:48:59). This statement clearly separates the two forms, while establishing the notion that thought, and memory — which itself is called, “indefinable” — are paramount to existence. While criticising the notion that humanity only exists due to its developed constructs, the Puppet Master makes a hole in his own argument: that the indefinable concept of what is, in essence, a collection of concepts, is at the heart of each separate definition.
A scientist, when asked how the Puppet Master is speaking, in the scene where his famous speech is delivered, says, “All external sensors are turned off — the body’s using its own power source,” (00:48:06). What power source is this? Sentience? Omniscience? This is proof that the Puppet Master has surpassed his original code and the humans beings who manufactured it and who gave him a purpose. Both realms of existence operate under the belief that sentience is paramount being human, but both are sentient, and sentience is not a spectrum by definition.
However way humanity is interpreted, it is important to note that it is still painted as the ultimate. The Puppet Master’s goal is to achieve mortality by merging with Kusanagi, and at the end of the film, the two forms of humanity become one. Therefore was he not human until the merging, because he was not mortal? Or was it his thoughts alone that made him human? These are the questions I took with me after watching this amazing film.