Brian Christian in his book The Most Human Human takes his reader audience along his journey of his quest to become the 'Most Human Human'. This quest involves him conquering the Turing Test. During this quest, Christian studies and consults with people in various fields ranging from philosophy to dating experts. He ultimately discovers that AI machines aren't becoming better at acting human, but instead human beings are becoming worse at being human. Consequently, this leads him in a journey to discover what makes us human. During his exploration, he crosses a few paths that correspond to a few films we have watched this semester. The first view I will examine is his statements in reference to human identity and how they correlate to the film 12 Monkeys.
The second insight espoused by Christian that I will explore is his views and comments on love and how they correlate to the film When Harry Met Sally and The Big Lebowski.
Christian's insights and investigation as to what make us human is fascinating. A specific insight of his that especially intrigued me occurs when he receives advice from an organizer of the Turing Test. Christian who is striving to understand what makes us human and to become the 'Most Human Human" is told to just "be himself" (26). This advice immediately caused him to think about how philosophers have agonized over this idea of how one can truly just 'be' themselves. He mentions Jean-Paul Sartre, who emphasizes authenticity, originality and freedom from outside influence. He also cites Friedrich Nietzsche who stressed that the most important factor in being 'one's self' is "being one self, any self." He correlates Nietzsche's view on human identity to Jaron Lanier who proposes the idea of 'central personal vision'. Christian uses both Nietzsche's and Lanier's views on identity to state that, "The kind of unity or coherence of identity is something that most humans, of course -- being the products of a single and continuous life history --have. But given the extreme brevity of a five minute conversation, displaying that kind of congruence was something I tried to be aware of" (28).
Christian's thoughts about 'being oneself' and human identity caused me to think of the film 12 Monkeys and the film's main character Cole. Cole is a time traveling prisoner whom's task is to uncover the source of a deadly virus. His mission is to go back in time and uncover the source of this deadly virus. He does not understand much else besides this specific mission. This mission is central to his identity. Furthermore, it defines his identity. We see throughout the film that Cole admits his inner turmoil. He even convinces himself towards the end of the film that he is insane, because "He wants to be a whole person." However, he has a central vision, and in the end he seeks to accomplish his mission. This all he truly knows. Everything else that happens in his life is in relation to his central vision. Cole's human identity is solely dependent on his life-history and mission, which is what Christian is alluding to in his discussion of identity.
On pages 213-14, Brian Christian states, "Out of an ancient need to return to that pre-lightening state of wholeness, we fall in love. All trying to get back to that original whole. The tangle of hugging, kissing, and sex being the closest we came come to 'reuniting our original nature, making one of two, and healing the state of man.'"
He says that when human beings often talk about the context of love, we typically mean it as a euphemism for sex. He correlates his view on sex to Aristotelean thought. He views it as a kind of triumphant, tragic attempt to combine two bodies, smushing them together like clay. He uses the word 'triumphant' because its as close as you ever get.
It seems to me his outlook on love is similar to what Harry espouses in the film When Harry Met Sally . This is evidenced when Harry and Sally get into an argument over the validity of friendships between men and women. Harry believes "the sex part gets in the way". He asserts that men only want to be friends with attractive women, because they want to have sex with them. Sally disagrees. This also reminds me of the Diane Jeske's essay on Family, Friends, and Special Obligations. Jeske talks about that in order to have a sustained, true friendship, it involves both parties making an effort to cultivate that friendship. Jeske also says genuine intimacy demands mutuality and reciprocity.
Henceforth, Harry and Brian Christian's view on love are cut from the same cloth. They seemingly both harbor a hedonist and almost nihilistic view on love. This is exemplified by how Christian states, "Sex never quite seems, in the Aristophanic sense, to work -- the two never quite manage to become one, and in fact sometimes end up creating a third in the process. Maybe the undoing of Zeus's separation, is simply impossible" (214).
To Brian Christian, sex is seemingly only meant for pleasure, not procreation. He doesn't see marriage as unitive either by stating how a married couple is only 'one' in the 'legal sense'. Furthermore, The physical mashing, hugging, and kissing in sex in his eyes is fruitless, yet as he says, "But there's hope."
His shallow statement of "But there's hope" reminds me of the type of nihilistic humor, which permeates throughout the film The Big Lebowski. An example of this type of humor is when Walter and 'the Dude' are pouring out Donnie's ashes on the banks of the ocean. As they are pouring out the ashes, the cremated remains of Donnie blow back in both of their faces. Walter and 'the Dude' get in a heated exchange over this, which ends with Walt saying, "Let's go bowling dude." I believe Christian's closing statement of "But there's hope" after attempting to understand the immensity and innate desire human being's have for love can be equated to Walter's statement of "Let's go bowling dude", since both are attempting to bring relief by a reaction to the incongruous or absurd.
This is an example of humor Tomas Kulka describes in his essay on the Incongruity of Incongruity Theories of Humor.
Ultimately, Brian Christian's book The Most Human Human is a thought-provoking read. His journey to discover the answers behind humanity causes him to investigate multiple fields of thought ranging from modern day philosophy to ancient philosophy. His elaborate commentary on his journey and discoveries brush upon many readings and films we watched this semester, while also him seeking to answer questions that have been sought by humans for centuries.
The second insight espoused by Christian that I will explore is his views and comments on love and how they correlate to the film When Harry Met Sally and The Big Lebowski.
Christian's insights and investigation as to what make us human is fascinating. A specific insight of his that especially intrigued me occurs when he receives advice from an organizer of the Turing Test. Christian who is striving to understand what makes us human and to become the 'Most Human Human" is told to just "be himself" (26). This advice immediately caused him to think about how philosophers have agonized over this idea of how one can truly just 'be' themselves. He mentions Jean-Paul Sartre, who emphasizes authenticity, originality and freedom from outside influence. He also cites Friedrich Nietzsche who stressed that the most important factor in being 'one's self' is "being one self, any self." He correlates Nietzsche's view on human identity to Jaron Lanier who proposes the idea of 'central personal vision'. Christian uses both Nietzsche's and Lanier's views on identity to state that, "The kind of unity or coherence of identity is something that most humans, of course -- being the products of a single and continuous life history --have. But given the extreme brevity of a five minute conversation, displaying that kind of congruence was something I tried to be aware of" (28).
Christian's thoughts about 'being oneself' and human identity caused me to think of the film 12 Monkeys and the film's main character Cole. Cole is a time traveling prisoner whom's task is to uncover the source of a deadly virus. His mission is to go back in time and uncover the source of this deadly virus. He does not understand much else besides this specific mission. This mission is central to his identity. Furthermore, it defines his identity. We see throughout the film that Cole admits his inner turmoil. He even convinces himself towards the end of the film that he is insane, because "He wants to be a whole person." However, he has a central vision, and in the end he seeks to accomplish his mission. This all he truly knows. Everything else that happens in his life is in relation to his central vision. Cole's human identity is solely dependent on his life-history and mission, which is what Christian is alluding to in his discussion of identity.
On pages 213-14, Brian Christian states, "Out of an ancient need to return to that pre-lightening state of wholeness, we fall in love. All trying to get back to that original whole. The tangle of hugging, kissing, and sex being the closest we came come to 'reuniting our original nature, making one of two, and healing the state of man.'"
He says that when human beings often talk about the context of love, we typically mean it as a euphemism for sex. He correlates his view on sex to Aristotelean thought. He views it as a kind of triumphant, tragic attempt to combine two bodies, smushing them together like clay. He uses the word 'triumphant' because its as close as you ever get.
It seems to me his outlook on love is similar to what Harry espouses in the film When Harry Met Sally . This is evidenced when Harry and Sally get into an argument over the validity of friendships between men and women. Harry believes "the sex part gets in the way". He asserts that men only want to be friends with attractive women, because they want to have sex with them. Sally disagrees. This also reminds me of the Diane Jeske's essay on Family, Friends, and Special Obligations. Jeske talks about that in order to have a sustained, true friendship, it involves both parties making an effort to cultivate that friendship. Jeske also says genuine intimacy demands mutuality and reciprocity.
Henceforth, Harry and Brian Christian's view on love are cut from the same cloth. They seemingly both harbor a hedonist and almost nihilistic view on love. This is exemplified by how Christian states, "Sex never quite seems, in the Aristophanic sense, to work -- the two never quite manage to become one, and in fact sometimes end up creating a third in the process. Maybe the undoing of Zeus's separation, is simply impossible" (214).
To Brian Christian, sex is seemingly only meant for pleasure, not procreation. He doesn't see marriage as unitive either by stating how a married couple is only 'one' in the 'legal sense'. Furthermore, The physical mashing, hugging, and kissing in sex in his eyes is fruitless, yet as he says, "But there's hope."
His shallow statement of "But there's hope" reminds me of the type of nihilistic humor, which permeates throughout the film The Big Lebowski. An example of this type of humor is when Walter and 'the Dude' are pouring out Donnie's ashes on the banks of the ocean. As they are pouring out the ashes, the cremated remains of Donnie blow back in both of their faces. Walter and 'the Dude' get in a heated exchange over this, which ends with Walt saying, "Let's go bowling dude." I believe Christian's closing statement of "But there's hope" after attempting to understand the immensity and innate desire human being's have for love can be equated to Walter's statement of "Let's go bowling dude", since both are attempting to bring relief by a reaction to the incongruous or absurd.
This is an example of humor Tomas Kulka describes in his essay on the Incongruity of Incongruity Theories of Humor.
Ultimately, Brian Christian's book The Most Human Human is a thought-provoking read. His journey to discover the answers behind humanity causes him to investigate multiple fields of thought ranging from modern day philosophy to ancient philosophy. His elaborate commentary on his journey and discoveries brush upon many readings and films we watched this semester, while also him seeking to answer questions that have been sought by humans for centuries.
