On this installment of Themes and Memes Adam and Aaron review the movie Transcendence. Johnny Depp stars as a Kurzweil-like Ai researcher who is assassinated only to be given second life by uploading his consciousness into a machine. What seems to be an obvious Singularity sales pitch has a bit of a twist.
Topics include: Johnny Depp, Will Caster, Ai researcher, uploading consiousness into computer, quantum computing, TED, neo-luddites, RIFT, Ray Kurzweil, artificial intelligence, transhumanism, singularity, radical, dialectic, debate, bad reviews, sci-fi, Hugo de Garis, Max Waters, name meanings, magician, Castor and Pollux, mythology, gemini, Brightwood, ash, Evelyn, life giving, sunflower, DoD, government money, independent research, transhuman project, humanitarian goals, internet, underground base, solar panels, resurrection, Jesus, nanotechnology, superhuman strength, drones, hive mind, collective, retain individuality, playing to innate fears, use of established tropes, the Borg, military, FBI, shifting allegiances, digital consciousness, nanites, rebuild and upgrade, tragedy, reversal of antagonists, moral ambiguity, incite guilt in audience, nature, Aubrey de Grey, tech hippie, garden, apocalypse, water
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