We've sure had this theme in quite a few books so far. There was the question of just what exactly constituted being alive in TMIAHM. (Parenthetically, whether or not Paul was "human" was drawn into question at the beginning of Dune, though for different reasons than we're talking about here). And now He, She and It, with its strong themes of creator-created, the nature of being alive, etc.
The modern age just seems to have compelled a lot of writers (particularly sci-fi writers) to ponder this question and explore it in their works. I think the idea of creating something that is essentially the equal to a human on metaphysical terms (Yod's got this great Descartian line about thinking, therefore being) is something that has bothered most thinkers since it's become plausible with the advent of the age of robotics (and cloning, for that matter). Playing God just touches a really ugly, scary spot for a lot of people, for understandable reasons.
I have to leave this post here for now, but I'll come back and post more soon.
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2 comments:
SO, to continue in this vein.
The question of humanity. I guess it boils down to a fundamental crisis of how we recognize where our own humanity begins and ends. A strict materialist, like myself, tends to see life and consciousness in the flickering around of electrons through neurons and the interpretation of this flickering in a complex series of signals. Extending this point of view, a very complex robot, whose neurons work in such a way that the *perception* of consciousness is created, is most certainly alive.
Spiritualists, however, choose to find something beyond these physical, material elements that comprise life. That something is a soul. The question that must then arise is, from where does a soul derive its existence? Can a soul be created, just as an artificial brain, or leg, or heart? Is a soul just the metaphysical extension of hte awareness of self? I'm not pretending to be able to actually answer this question. But these are the types of issues writers like Piercy have been dealing with a lot in the past century.
I definitely agree that the modern age has compelled writers to question what it means to be human. The issue is commonly raised with issues of AI and abortion in addition to the robotics example you bring up--when does life begin, and what is it? I think that, especially concerning AI, certain issues force us to define what it means to be human because it creates the "other". It seems that identity (especially majority identity)in general is very related to comparison of "the other". As we create "others" that consistently share more and more charateristics with us humans, we are constantly forced to think about who and what we are that differentiates us from what we create.
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