Oh, you better believe there are people like that. Ever watch the news?
HBO's "Westworld", starring Anthony Hopkins/produced by J.J. Abrams
- Thread starter Ensign_Redshirt
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Oh, you better believe there are people like that. Ever watch the news?
And indeed they are a minority of the population. And people who kill for fun (not for profit or otherwise) are a minority of the minority. And usually they can't afford 40,000 $ at day to play cowboy.
Hell, I'm a gamer and I won't deny that I can get pretty into beating up thugs in the Batman games, or getting into shootouts with enemy soldiers in Battlefield/Call of Duty games, but I have no real desire to do that kind of stuff in real life.
I haven't seen the show yet, but just based on the idea and what others have said here, I can see the attitude of Westworld being believable.
The thing is, in the visitor's minds they're not raping or killing people, they're just playing a game with unreal things. In their minds it's probably not that different from playing cowboys and indians as little kids, only more X-rated.
I also had a thought about why a western theme could be explained for something like this. Whether it's true or not the Wild West is thought of as one of the last lawless eras, when people were running around killing each other and getting into shootouts and bar fights all the time.
Reality of AI: Westworld
I'll give you that last bit.
Huh?
William, Logan, and the Man in Black are all human "guests" of the park, and that was made about as clear as it could've possibly been, so this 'theory' makes no sense whatsoever.
Why? The Gunslinger has been a regular guest for 30 years. Why does this somehow preclude him from being a guest... 30 years ago?
What's so confusing about it? It suggests that William is a younger version of the Man in black and that the scenes we're seeing are from 30 years in the past, but presented as taking place at the same time as the rest of the scenes.
It doesn't seem likely. However, off the top of my head, I don't recall William or Logan interacting with any humans of present day. The only interaction with a known character that I can recall is with Dolores, who we already know is the oldest host. We don't see them speaking to each other (thus not giving away limitations in her speech parameters), only repeating the same action we've seen before, i.e. dropping the canned goods.
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The only problem I see with it is that the host (presuming she actually was a host) that greeted William was... really convincing. And if they were only just starting to make the hosts more convincing in the "present" (aka 30 years in the future, if the theory is right) then there must be some other company out there making even more advanced hosts than the Westworld guys. Which, again, makes little to no sense seeing as how everything implies that they're the ones who created the technology to begin with.
Ah, good point. However, perhaps she was just teasing William and he wouldn't know better because he's never been to the park before.
It's not saying the only thing holding us back from murder is fear of getting caught. It's saying the only thing holding us back is the empathy we have for the victims. Knowledge that they are robots removes the empathy.
Empathy does not have a switch that lets you turn off it at will. If they tell you that something that looks exactly like a human being, thinks like a human being, bleeds like a human being and begs like a human being it's NOT a human being, this does not make you suddenly a serial killer and a rapist. We viewers are uncomfortable when we see MIB raping Dolores and we know that they are two actors. Imagine being physically there, hearing her screams and her pleas. Now tell me that it is exaclty like "GTA V".
Look, I do not deny that there are people like that. Of course there is. I dispute the premise that everyone can become so (with rare exceptions) just if they know that there will be no consequences for their actions.
Thank you, I had wondered if it was a genuine gun or not. And the notion of playing in God mode struck me as well, and everybody seems to be playing in that mode so I can see it getting a little boring after a while-just because you can't be killed it should follow that you can win every gunfight you're in. And as others have said I don't know what stops you being stabbed if someone mistakes you for a Host (or maybe even just uses the excuse that they thought you were a Host, how to get away with murder?)
I'm willing to suspect disbelief because the show's very engaging. I wonder what Ford is up to, and anyone else noticing the similarity between William and Logan and the characters played by Benjamin and Brolin in the original film? One the veteran indulging all his tastes, the other the more nervous first timer and more obvious good guy? Will we end up seeing William running from a murderous Delores?
Even if there's no malevolent design behind what's happening to the Hosts you can see why things might start to fuck up, look how many modifications were made the Maeve's programming in the space of just a day? Add in all the memory wipes and eventually things are going to get very muddled.
I hope we see Angela again. Not just because Tallulah Riley is very easy on the eye but because she's the first Host we've seen who knows she's a Host.
The only point I disagree with you on is that every person would feel empathy for a robot just because they are really realistic. We as viewers feel empathy for the robots because the narrative has primed us to. Some people would have trouble hurting the robots, and most wouldn't act as sadistic as the MIB, but a greater percentage would have no problem shooting them when the narrative demands.
Empathy gets turned off more easily than you give it credit. How do you think terrorist groups recruit? Why do people who individually are decent people start savagely beating on people when they're part of a chanting mob?
You can't turn empathy on and off at will, but you can be primed not to experience it, and that's what Westworld is designed to do. Or rather, in world it's designed to turn off empathy, and out of world it's designed to turn it on.
The big difference is that we are not talking about refugees, war victims or people who feel victims of some injustice so they feel justified in committing acts of violence. We talk about people who live a comfortable and peaceful life, and then they coldly decide to spend their holidays being bloodthirsty sadists. Even a terrorist thinks he has good reasons to do a massacre.
I do not argue that there are people who think that killing or raping a perfect reproduction of a human being is a great way to blow off steam. I question the tv show's assumption that a sizable chunk of visitors will behave in this way.
ETA: And imagine what would happen as soon videos of what's going in the park leak. The protests that we have for GTA V would pale by comparison.
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Game of Thrones burned a little girl alive at the stake. A lot of decent, good, empathetic people with morals watched that episode for entertainment.
One thing to be a spectator, quite another to be the one who physically fire the pire and watch the girl die in agony.
More important distinction: One thing to be a spectator of a fictional child burning.
Put it under this point of view. Let's suppose someone you know buys, tortures and kills small guinea pigs for relaxation and fun. Would we think that it's okay because he doesn't commit a crime (suppose he do it in a place where it isn't a crime) and they aren't human beings?
Animal cruelty is a crime. We can suppose anything, such as Westworld.
But are they real guinea pigs or ones from Westworld?
There are nations where animal cruelty is not a crime (or where the worst you can get is a fine).
This one
