In the film Avatar, the main character assumes the physical body of the alien species known as the Na'vi. As time goes by, he begins to look forward to his time with the Na'vi rather than his time as a human being. His mind is always his, but his body changes. So this calls into the question the definition of exactly what it means to be a human, at least in this movie.
By the end of the movie (spoilers!), Jake decides he wants to live out his life as one of the Na'vi. To do so, his mind must be permanently transferred into the Na'vi body fashioned for him. In order for this to work, his human body essentially has to die. It is no longer useful to him. So, is Jake still a human? Or is he now a member of this alien species, the Na'vi? Or is he a combination of both identities?
Brian Christian, in his book The Most Human Human, brings up the topic of existence. He references Descartes famous line: Cogito ergo sum (I think, therefore I am). With this line, Descartes sums up human existence. Jake's mind stays the same even after being transferred into a human body. Therefore, from this, one could assume that Jake is human no matter what. Naturally, this movie is entirely fictional, but let's say the Na'vi were real. They also can think and reason and feel emotion. Would this make them human, too? Of course, we've never met an alien species in order to answer this question properly, but if we did, it might suggest that the reasoning mind transcends physical form. Our minds and our thoughts are the most important aspect when trying to define what it means to be human.
After watching Avatar and what the Na'vi (I totally forgot they had a name) experienced, it was hard for me to consider them anything but human. I mean, they felt pain and experienced thought processing, just like you stated. Aren't those key points to being "human?" They were in my opinion, so it was hard for me to actually consider them alien species. I don't know, they were way too similar to us, honestly. I also didn't think that Jake betrayed "humanity." I think he simply transformed into another species of humanity. If you think back to ancestors and all, we've had multiple species of humans. Could the Na'vi be considered one, too?
ReplyDeleteOverall, I couldn't get past the fact that they could think, reason, and feel emotion to consider what Jake did a betrayal. He made a conscious decision with his heart and that explained it all for me.