Singularity

It is the belief of Ray Kurzweil that by the year 2029, computers will be able to successfully complete a Turing test. A Turing test is defined as: "a test of a machine's ability to exhibit intelligent behavior." The overall idea that computers will be able mimic and process as a human brain is a bit unsettling but at the same time interesting to think about. For me this reminds me of the character Lieutenant Commander DATA from the Star Trek: The Next Generation series of the mid 90's. The goal for DATA's character was to develop more and more human like qualities as the show progressed, with a later arrival at being able to create and replicate human emotion. Of coarse the timeline for the show took place in 2364, the idea that we will reach that point over 330 years ahead of schedule is pretty impressive. It makes you think of how much of this tech we really want ruling our lives. The problem became quite apparent in Will Smith’s iRobot, in which the robots were given human emotion and that led to a world of shit. In today’s world where people will have their perfectly good limbs surgically removed in order to be replaced with robotic prosthetics, it makes you wonder when has it gone to far. I hope I never become so reliant on a machines task and convenience to the point that I render my self-incompatible. I don’t want to see my self as an out dated system requirement on the side of a box.

"The thing about perfection...

... is that it's unknowable. It's impossible, but it's also right in front of us all the time. You wouldn't know that because I didn't when I created you." Kevin Flynn: TRON Legacy 2010

Perfection is an unachievable goal, and for those that cant come to terms with that, it can drive the pursuer mad. That was the case for C.L.U. (Codified Likeness Utility) in the film TRON Legacy. CLU chased after the idea that he could create the perfect system, however with out reaching perfection, CLU could never find happiness. He could never be satisfied with his accomplishments because that was the mind set of his creator when he was cloned.

For me, I have an idea of what i consider perfect but I can understand when I should stop the "drive" towards it. Constantly in my major we are pushed to strive for creating a perfect render, model, or overall project. Which in many ways I feel that we do. However in many cases I have personally as well as seen my piers push something to far and ruin it. You can loose what makes you an individual by striving to be perfect. I like to leave parts of my render in just the raw line work drawing just to show how dramatic of a change took place, while also showing that it is in fact a render, and not a photograph.

In striving for this idea of perfection, we can loose what makes us an individual.

- bowditchsmith