Themes (315)
Find narratives by ethical themes or by technologies.
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- 3 min
- Kinolab
- 2014
Donald and Helen, a married couple, are both dissatisfied with their marriage, particularly in their sexual relationship, and so unwilling to communicate with each other that they both want to cheat on each other. The technology in this clip are the websites on which they both succumb to the temptation of an affair.
- Kinolab
- 2014
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- 3 min
- Kinolab
- 2014
Infidelity and Social Networks
Donald and Helen, a married couple, are both dissatisfied with their marriage, particularly in their sexual relationship, and so unwilling to communicate with each other that they both want to cheat on each other. The technology in this clip are the websites on which they both succumb to the temptation of an affair.
Are websites like the ones shown in this narrative a justifiable affordance of social networks and digital technologies? Does the facility of making connections with other people make infidelity overall easier to accomplish? Does having these more private, secluded channels make communication between dissatisfied partners harder? In thinking particularly about the “Escort Edition” website, what is problematic about its quantification of women and “shopping” user interface?
Men, Women and Children: Extramarital Affairs-
- 2 min
- Kinolab
- 2014
Allison’s unhealthy eating habits are reinforced with comments she receives online to the point where she refuses to eat with her family and follows online advice on how to resist hunger. The technology in this clip is the online forum which has the goal of perpetuating and starting unhealthy eating habits.
- Kinolab
- 2014
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- 2 min
- Kinolab
- 2014
Social Networks and Societal Norms
Allison’s unhealthy eating habits are reinforced with comments she receives online to the point where she refuses to eat with her family and follows online advice on how to resist hunger. The technology in this clip is the online forum which has the goal of perpetuating and starting unhealthy eating habits.
How do social networks, and certain enclaves within these networks such as a blog site, set the societal norms in the digital age? How do these platforms perpetuate illusions of how people should look and act? Did social media create these problems, or simply exacerbate them?
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- 7 min
- Kinolab
- 2017
Downsizing, the procedure which shrinks people down to only a few inches, is invented to combat environmental harm by producing less waste.
- Kinolab
- 2017
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- 7 min
- Kinolab
- 2017
Thought Experiment in Technological Environmentalism
Downsizing, the procedure which shrinks people down to only a few inches, is invented to combat environmental harm by producing less waste.
Should the technology to edit humans be created and used if it means saving the planet? How would consent factor into this? Are there any other workable technologies for aiding the environment through means such as ameliorating climate change? Should technological innovation be directed toward first identifying problems and then encompassing the most radical solution possible?
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- 9 min
- Kinolab
- 1995
In this world, a human consciousness (“ghost”) can inhabit an artificial body (“shell”), thus at once becoming edited humans in a somewhat robotic body. The Puppet Master, a notorious villain in this world, is revealed not to be a human hacker, but a computer program which has gained sentience and gone on to hack the captured shell. It challenges the law enforcement officials of Section 6 and Section 9 saying that it is a life-form and not an AI. It argues that its existence as a self-sustaining program which has achieved singularity is not different from human DNA as a “self-sustaining program.” The Puppet Master specifically references reproduction/offspring, not copying, as a distinguishing feature of living things as opposed to nonliving things. Additionally, it developed emotional connection with Major which led it to select her as a candidate for merging. It references how it can die but live on through the merging and, after Major’s death, in the internet.
- Kinolab
- 1995
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- 9 min
- Kinolab
- 1995
Self-Sustaining Programs
In this world, a human consciousness (“ghost”) can inhabit an artificial body (“shell”), thus at once becoming edited humans in a somewhat robotic body. The Puppet Master, a notorious villain in this world, is revealed not to be a human hacker, but a computer program which has gained sentience and gone on to hack the captured shell. It challenges the law enforcement officials of Section 6 and Section 9 saying that it is a life-form and not an AI. It argues that its existence as a self-sustaining program which has achieved singularity is not different from human DNA as a “self-sustaining program.” The Puppet Master specifically references reproduction/offspring, not copying, as a distinguishing feature of living things as opposed to nonliving things. Additionally, it developed emotional connection with Major which led it to select her as a candidate for merging. It references how it can die but live on through the merging and, after Major’s death, in the internet.
Do you agree with the puppet master’s arguments that self-sustaining programs are conceptually the same as human DNA? Why or why not? Has the externalisation of memory made it far more possible for robots to achieve singularity and exist as human-like figures in the world? Is memory the sole feature that helps humans build their identities? List all the comparisons made in this narrative between self-sustaining programs and human genetics and existence.
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- 8 min
- Kinolab
- 1997
Dr. Ellie Arroway is a scientist who has been chosen to make contact with the first confirmed extraterrestrial life. However, as contact with the start system Vega advances, religious fanatics and other extremist groups prepare for the moment of interaction. This moment in the film juxtaposes how Ellie, an atheist scientist, only looks forward to the scientific progress toward extraterrestrial contact while others, including the religious extremists, fear it. In general, this clip explores how technology can have diverse social impact and the hysteria that it can foster as it shatters preconceived notions. Later, one such religious terrorist sabotages the transport of Dr. Drumlin in the new machine through a suicide bombing, killing them both.
- Kinolab
- 1997
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- 8 min
- Kinolab
- 1997
Technology Versus Religious Fanaticism
Dr. Ellie Arroway is a scientist who has been chosen to make contact with the first confirmed extraterrestrial life. However, as contact with the start system Vega advances, religious fanatics and other extremist groups prepare for the moment of interaction. This moment in the film juxtaposes how Ellie, an atheist scientist, only looks forward to the scientific progress toward extraterrestrial contact while others, including the religious extremists, fear it. In general, this clip explores how technology can have diverse social impact and the hysteria that it can foster as it shatters preconceived notions. Later, one such religious terrorist sabotages the transport of Dr. Drumlin in the new machine through a suicide bombing, killing them both.
How might technological advancement challenge preconceived notions of the world, especially religious ones? Are science, computer science, and innovation sorts of religions in their own right? In an increasingly networked world, how do extremist enclaves rally together to pose a threat to humanity? How can ignorance be combatted in an age where information can be accessed quickly and technology changes the landscape of society?
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- 5 min
- Kinolab
- 2013
Actress Robin Wright plays a fictionalized version of herself who traverses through both the real world and the mixed reality of Abrahama city in this narrative. As Miramount Studio animator Dylan explains to her, the rules of the mixed reality allow people to appear as an avatar which they please, editing their human features into more imaginative ones. With this capability, many people choose to remain in the mixed reality permanently, leaving the real world in a grim stupor.
- Kinolab
- 2013
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- 5 min
- Kinolab
- 2013
Removed from Reality
Actress Robin Wright plays a fictionalized version of herself who traverses through both the real world and the mixed reality of Abrahama city in this narrative. As Miramount Studio animator Dylan explains to her, the rules of the mixed reality allow people to appear as an avatar which they please, editing their human features into more imaginative ones. With this capability, many people choose to remain in the mixed reality permanently, leaving the real world in a grim stupor.
Who has a responsibility to ensure that mixed and virtual realities are not tantalizing enough to absolve humans from the responsibility for caring for the real world? How can addiction to digital realities be ameliorated? What issues of identity and presentation to others arise from the capability to appear however one pleases? How is this empowering, and how is this dangerous?