Comments on: Thoughts on the Singularity

By: David Williams

David Williams — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 17:44:08 +0000

@Ian: thanks a ton–hope you enjoy it!

@Al: appreciate the kudos. . . there will be more indeed–plus I’ll be posting daily here . . .

By: Al Billings

Al Billings — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 09:26:58 +0000

Yes, they probably are a narrative device but it is still annoyingly hard to be sure. Of course, in the end, it is just media.

By the way, I enjoyed your book quite a bit. I hope to see more.

By: Ian Hristo

Ian Hristo — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 22:20:08 +0000

Hi David, thanks for leaving a comment on my blog. Let me know when you want to use any of my ideas for a new book ;-). I will pick up your book in the stores, it sounds very interesting. Good luck with it and future writing.

By: David Williams

David Williams — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 21:48:48 +0000

I agree with you, Al–the movie definitely leans strongly in that direction. But it still leaves some ambiguity, particularly in the use of the word “robot” in the opening text.

There’s also a tantalizing reference in one of the earlier scripts:

http://www.brmovie.com/FAQs/BR_FAQ_What_are_Reps.htm

On the cylons: one possibility re the glowing red lights in the spine is that they’re akin to the glowing red eyes of the replicants: i.e., they’re a narrative device that’s only visible to those who can see through the fourth wall (i.e., the audience).

By: Al Billings

Al Billings — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 21:41:04 +0000

I always thought it was fairly clear in Bladerunner that the replicants were engineered biologicals without any hardware. Otherwise, why are they doing the weird tests instead of running them through metal detectors or more advanced detection devices?

The thing with the cylons in Battlestar Galactica has always been pretty inconsistent. Sometimes, they seem to have something like machinery (glowing lights in spine? Ability to shove a wire in the arm?) but, strangely, no one can detect these bits.