The First season from the series Westworld HBO Max, dazzled the audience and the critics. The pessimistic version of a world in which Artificial Intelligence is a hostage and a tool of twisted pleasure, was disconcerting. But even more so, when it became related to all kinds of questions about ethics, consciousness and the very condition of existence.
With two parallel timelines and a transition elegant between the conception of good and evil, the series became a success. And especially, when the end foreshadowed that the following seasons would explore the pessimistic future that held similar concepts. What society was capable of creating moderately sensitive creatures to confine them to a tricky game of reality? Much more disturbing still, who was responsible for a large-scale game of information and power?
Perhaps because of its ambition, the second season garnered mixed reviews. Once the robot rebellion occurred, the series found itself in the complex situation of justifying it. Much more, link it and reconstruct it as a version on the great themes that it had already touched. But not only did it fall short, but it also bet on action rather than on his well-known intellectual background. The series left some memorable sequences for pop culture, but it did not reach the level of depth and eloquence of the first installment. The big question was, then, what could happen in a third, with Evan Rachel Wood’s Dolores without ties or restrictions?
The answer was not as shocking, urgent or ingenious as one might think. That, despite the fact that the series expanded its limits and finally showed the world that welcomes the island paradise of Westworld. The radiant futuristic society, announced on so many occasions, materialized as a deceptive utopia with fascist airs. The kidnapping of information and its biased use became brutal elements that the series carefully exploited. Not so much the condition of Artificial Intelligence in rebellion against its creators or in-door subversion on a fearsome scale.
The fourth season of Westworld It promises to unite all the previous lines and also to link the condition of futuristic fear with something more complex. And for that, it requires clarifying several of its hardest and most complicated concepts. We leave you a detailed list of everything you need to know about Westworld and its premise, before enjoying its new chapters.
Bicameral mind or the assumption of existence
Much of the first season of Westworld It was based on delving into the consciousness of the host robots of the park. Or in other words, if the artificial intelligence was able to recognize itself as such. The curious game of mirrors — a traditional part of the science fiction genre — was linked to a complex concept in psychology: the bicameral mind. The premise of the first chapters of the series asked questions about whether androids could contemplate their own life and consciousness. Also, the sensitive question of when a machine could be considered to be something more than a set of parts.
The bicameral mind theory was first put forward in the book “The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind” by Julian Jaynes. Published in 1976, it contained research that theorized the possibility that homo sapiens was not aware of its existence until 1000 BC. C. Always, according to Jaynes, even after that time point, the mind in formation, the divine was raised as a second voice of identity. That is, as hallucinations or errors of perception, conceived as divine ideas.
During the first season of Westworldthe premise of the series explored the slow coming to consciousness of androids. But also, the way Robert Ford (Anthony Hopkins) influenced his creations as a kind of total creator. An almost mystical figure that the hosts perceived as plenipotentiary and incontestable. A perception of the bicameral mind taken to a whole new layer.
Turing test
For much of the first and second seasons of Westworld, the program included allusions to the Turing test in its plot. Based on the work of mathematician Alan Turing, the test aims to demonstrate the intelligence of a machine. Or in any case, how close it is in its analysis processes to those of a human being. The scientific resource, very frequent nowadays, It is part of several science fiction plots. But in Westworld it takes on a disturbing meaning by linking the creators’ control, fear and dominance over the hosts with the test, in a single premise.
In fact, in both the first and second seasons, the Turing test (or a variation) is a turning point between characters. The questions and answers to which the robots are subjected reveal a latent intention. That of knowing how aware the artificial intelligence captive in the park of its existence is and also, measuring its sensitivity and reasoning. The set of tests reveals to Ford, creator of the park, that the mental evolution of his robots is complete. What triggers the events of the last chapter of the first season and part of the second installment.
uncanny valley theory
In 1970, the scientist Masahiro Mori created the so-called “uncanny valley theory” with which he tried to explain the relationships – to come – between robots and human beings. Through hypothesis, Mori delved into the possibility of man’s reaction to his mechanical creatures. In addition, he analyzed that as robotic or artificial intelligence creations became more similar to human beings, would cause a strange psychological effect. One that would cause rejection, discomfort and even bewilderment and fear in the human brain.
Westworld uses the theory in its third season. In it, Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood), proposes the idea that robots are superior. In fact, the concept is subtly discussed when the character values her existence and she makes it clear that she would be “hated” for being an android. Little by little, the series deepens, emphasizes and explores the idea of relationships between humans and robots. And it leaves in the substrate, the sensation that in the best conditions, the robberies would be feared. At worst, considered a threat. A new dimension of Mori’s theory.
Hive mind or controlled
According to the science fiction genre, the hive or controlled mind supposes a close and coordinated collaboration between individuals who, usually, could not do it. It is the idea that a single master or central mind controls the personality or any element that gives individuality to other creatures. Control can be total or, at best, conscious.
In the third season of Westworld, the hive mind is a point of enormous interest to understand history. It is a powerful journey through underlying ideas about the ability of robots to work with each other. And not only as accomplices or something similar, but as elements intertwined with each other in a very elaborate and conscious way. Evan Rachel Wood’s Dolores becomes the center of a large-scale plot. And also, at the most elaborate point of a transition towards an increasingly strong and complicated type of chaos strategy.
predictive algorithm
The predictive algorithm is a mathematical representation that translates a fact of reality into data that allows predicting when it will happen again. Or at least, in what form or under what aspects will it occur. The prediction can include from processes to the specific behavior of individuals, through the available information.
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In the third season of Westworld, the corporation Incite Inc uses the data as a way to predict collective behavior. This, in turn, allows individuals to be controlled in the way that can be most efficient. So the world of Westworld is actually a large-scale representation of the park. And one, much more elaborate and hard than could be assumed in its first season.