Techno-Monsters

Rayner, Alice. "Techno-Monsters: On the Edge of Humanity." Stanford Magazine (Dec. 1994): 47-51.

The fictional creations of a society often reflect its deepest fears and concerns. Contemporary science fiction examines the changing boundaries between man and machine and reflects the volatile nature of that love/hate relationship. How is man changed by this interface with machine, and how much can we shape machines to make them human? These questions define our fundamental ideas about what it is to be human" (headnote). Handles passim the Luddites, everyday technology that surrounds us, new technology impinging upon us; plus, among other works, 2001, the Borg episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Ambrose Paré's Des Monstres et Prodiges (16th c.) and its warnings against transgressing boundaries, esp.transgressing species boundaries between human and animal, METROPOLIS, Martin Heidegger on the technological "'essence' of the human,"Capek's R. U. R., Greg Bear's book Queen of Angels, BLADE RUNNER, ROBOCOP (1987), and "The Measure of a Man" episode of STNG in which Data's humanity is judged. Concludes that "The best of science fiction challenges us to find the humanity in the machine and the machine in humanity" (51).

(RDE, 29/01/95)