Author Archives: simonmp

Contrasting Rates of Change

Posted on November 12, 2015 by simonmp

Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World is unique in that it presents two separate, though connected, narratives. Perhaps the biggest difference between the two worlds are rates of change. Hard Boiled Wonderland moves remarkably quickly, like the world … Continue reading →

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Animal Enhancement Progress

Posted on November 11, 2015 by simonmp

The idea of cybernetically enhancing animals is to me morally challenging, since animals cannot give their consent. Not only that but animal experimentation can be dangerous, as witnessed in We3. Nonetheless animal experimentation using enhancements has begun. One element of … Continue reading →

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Predicting the Singularity

Posted on October 28, 2015 by simonmp

Attitudes towards the singularity range from optimism to pessimism and everywhere in between, but one thing most agree on is that it is coming. The question is when. I was reading about a project called The Human Brain Project, and … Continue reading →

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Second Life Experience

Posted on October 11, 2015 by simonmp

I like the concept of Second Life, but I feel the execution is still far from what would be necessary for an experience as immersive as the Metaverse. The first thing I tried out was to test what happens when … Continue reading →

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Slipping by Surveillance

Posted on October 8, 2015 by simonmp

One of the biggest themes in Snowcrash is privacy. There is virtually no privacy in the futuristic world in which the novel is set. Retinal scanners can capture even the minutest details of any passerby’s life. In class we discussed … Continue reading →

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Hyperrealism in Music

Posted on October 4, 2015 by simonmp

Popular musical tastes are always changing, accordingly leading to different music being produced. With this shift comes something with which we are all familiar: remixes. There are innumerable examples, but let’s start with one with which most people are familiar: … Continue reading →

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The Ultimate Machine

Posted on September 22, 2015 by simonmp

For our contextualization day I looked more into the Ultimate Machine. It wasn’t quite as eerie as I had imagined it would be. I thought it would look more like a hand rising from a grave, kind of how many … Continue reading →

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Deckard vs Batty

Posted on September 13, 2015 by simonmp

The scene starts with Batty looking in on Deckard, kept out by a fence but telling Deckard that he can see him. This to me represented the Nexus 6’s plight overall: they are tantalizingly close to being completely human, but … Continue reading →

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Frankenstein’s Hypocrisy

Posted on September 1, 2015 by simonmp

Frankenstein’s adult life is haunted by regret that he ever brought his monster to life. He says this repeatedly throughout Frankenstein: his “abhorrence of this fiend cannot be conceived” (chapter 9). The reader is led to the conclusion that he … Continue reading →

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