Note: This section is longer due to the need to finish the series' analysis sooner than expected. Apologies to those who are confused or who end up dissatisfied with the amount of content covered at the end.
Episode 21:
The team enters the hospital area where Togusa has been carted in. Before he goes into surgery, they extract information from his memories whereupon Aramaki makes a special request to use the American Empire's powerful surveillance technology that allows them to track all communications within the country. They begin using the tech to identify the whereabouts of Imakurusu. The Laughing Man, who has kidnapped Imakurusu, is talking to him in a country club's private room by manipulating the body of an employee. The he criticizes Imakurusu for not coming forward sooner just because of the potential benefits of Micro-machine research. Imakurusu accuses the Laughing Man for being ingenuous too what with all the corporate terrorism, but he denies responsibility for those attacks and claims that he never even came up with the name, "The Laughing Man." He then tells Imakurusu that only one thing besides Imakurusu's testimony will be necessary and instructs him not to leave the room under any circumstances before releasing his host from his control.
As Section 9 attempts to track Imakurusu, their computers/androids begin crashing from the load of the information. Ishikawa, in order to lighten the effect, borrows the brain power of elderly men who are spending their time immersed in fantasy environments and/or in the past in a separate building. At that time, Imakurusu goes outside to a public terminal and places a call to the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare chief Niimi, the one who, unbeknownst to him, is behind the narcotics squad's elimination of the Sunflower Society. Niimi sends a team to go and kill Imakurusu as Section 9 picks up on the term Imakurusu and sends a rescue squad.
Niimi gives the narcotics squad a military-grade power suit that places them at an overwhelming advantage over the rescue squad. Batou escorts Imakurusu, keeping him out of sight of the gunmen and Kusanagi suffers major damage. The power suit slams her body into the ground repeatedly until she goes unconscious. When Saito and Borma arrive, they have a heavy artillery rifle strapped into the back of a van, getting 2 shots off on the suit (making it tumble onto the ground). At that point, Kusanagi comes to, grabs the rifle with her bare hands, gets on top of the suit, and repeatedly fires at the cockpit until the pilot, the narcotic squad captain, is sufficiently terrified and struggling to breath/get out.
Around back, Batou is talking with the pilot of a helicopter to get Imakurusu out, but Imakurusu walks away from the chopper while Batou isn't looking and starts talking with the actual Laughing Man who is standing across the street. A car drives by, open firing on Imakurusu. Batou charges in, rushing to save Imakurusu, but he is bleeding out and refers to the boy next to him as the Laughing Man. Batou then looks at the person, uncomprehending. The Laughing Man hands him the original ledger with the names of the vaccine users and he walks away, hacking Batou's eyes so he can't figure out where he has gone.
Episode 22:
With the arrest of the narc captain, they have enough evidence to put away Niimi. After arresting him too, former prime minister Kanzaki enters into an elevator with Aramaki and gives him a tip that Secretary General Yakushima may have been the one to pull in the power suit. He has friends in upper management and "a lot of pull with the Navy." Batou fills in Togusa with what has been going on with the case. Aramaki comes back to the headquarters, but a reporter addresses him claiming to have identified Aramaki's brother, arrested just recently for drug charges. Aramaki states that he hasn't seen his brother in years, takes the photo, and drives back out of the garage.
Kusanagi meanwhile is getting a replacement for her body. The doctor appears late, and starts the procedure, but it turns out someone else has replaced the doctor: a Drug Enforcement Administration agent bent on killing Kusanagi. She disables her ability to speak so she can't get help. At the time, however, the Laughing Man happens to pay her a visit (hacking the eyes of the agent to remain undetected). As the agent makes preparations to torture and kill the Major, the Laughing Man makes a deal with Kusanagi. He will save her if she agrees to first stay out of his way while he tries to handle the criminals his way and second that she would ensure their capture should he fail. Kusanagi tells him that she may not be able to keep her word though. The Laughing Man shares his memories with her and releases her restraints. She then takes out the assassin and leaves with her new body.
Aramaki makes his way to the hospital to visit his so-called brother, but he isn't permitted to see him, so he makes his way to the place in the photo he stole from the journalist, a ghetto where two homeless people who apparently knew his brother notice the family resemblance and begin explaining to him how the police just showed up and arrested him, planting evidence of him drug dealing and then seizing him. While Aramaki is there, Batou wonders where he has gotten off to since he was supposed to meet him. Ishikawa tracks his car to the ghetto, and the concerned Batou goes off to find him. Batou finds the car, so Ishikawa starts using the local camera system to search for him. Eventually he finds him, talking to the hobos. Ishikawa is also in the process of receiving data on the narcotics squad members who are still at large, but he doesn't look at them as he's trying to identify the faces of the hobos. The men then inject Aramaki with a drug after they go inside a tent, away from camera's view. Ishikawa realizes that the pictures of the hobos matches the remaining narcotic squad members. There plan was to get the chief arrested for drug use, paint Section 9 in a bad light, and discredit them.
Batou manages to pull the chief out of there before he is spotted and he drugs and captures both of the narcotic squad members too. Back at the hospital, the chief is resting and Kusanagi pays him a visit as he recovers informing him that the man wasn't the brother whom Aramaki had been seeking out for years.
Episode 23:
The team's new target is Secretary General Yakushima. He was Minister of Health during the Laughing Man incident and has secret connections to the Japan Meritime Self-Defense Force, hence the armored power suit access. He also has past connections to Imakurusu. In search of evidence to back up their theory, they decide to press on Earnest Serrano who happened to be in the midst of both the suppression of the Murai vaccine and the development of micro-machines in the hopes that he would illuminate the connection between the two. He has been under house arrest under the pretense of "police protection" ever since the Laughing Man incident.
At Serrano's estate, the Laughing man appears in the man's bedroom and Serrano knew he would be coming for him eventually. He states that he is there to ensure that Serrano makes good on the promise he made 6 years ago and invites him to go with him. Serrano willingly goes with him and the two of them walk out of the estate, the Laughing Man undetected, and get into Serrano's car, going to an "appointment". After the two of them ditch the guards tailing them, Batou and Saito show up at the estate, having just missed them. They reveal how the Laughing Man slipped past them, and how they tricked everyone since they left far earlier for the appointment than they should have.
The Laughing Man takes Serrano to a coffee shop across the square where he had initially held Serrano at gunpoint on camera. The two of them reminisce about the Laughing Man had once hacked him and kidnapped him simply to have talk with him about moral questions, about why he wasn't coming forward about the authentic benefit of the Murai vaccine. It is revealed that Serrano had eventually agreed to speak the truth, but only to get out of the situation. As they had been walking away after 2 days of being controlled, the Laughing Man relinquishes control in the square. Once free, Serrano explains that he won't be doing anything for the Laughing Man, and it's at that moment that he pulls a gun on him in front of the cameras. Since then, Serrano has reflected on those conversations and on how things had gone down. Serrano eventually realized that
the Laughing Man couldn't have been the one behind the corporate terrorism. He was just too involved in his own sense of personal justice.
Apparently, right after a virus had been introduced into his micro-machine company, a representative of the Private Support Association for a particular assemblyman came forward and told him that he was acquainted with someone who could put an end to the corporate blackmail, and in the event that it was to be taken care of, he asked if Serrano's company would be willing to make a contribution to the assemblyman, an amount equivalent to the public funds and the demanded blackmail money. Serrano Genomics had been targeted for a shake down, and it wasn't long before several other companies had been targeted in a similar manner, resulting in the string of attacks attributed to the Laughing Man.
It was when the Laughing Man had revealed himself publicly that Serrano had resolved himself to one day help him in earnest. They both talk about how they will need to get to work compiling evidence against Secretary General Yakushima, the "assemblyman" in question. The Laughing Man then leaves, telling Serrano not to die before he takes the witness stand, and shortly thereafter, soldiers storm the building with Section 9. They take Serrano into custody. Batou then meets the Laughing Man outside the building, commenting the acting, and the Laughing Man individual unveils her face: Major Kusanagi.
Episode 24:
Togusa is permitted to check out of the hospital to accompany the chief as they go to arrest Yakushima (since he was the one to pursue the case in the first place), but the chief is then urged by one of his associates to look at the news. Section 9 is accused of becoming a rogue organization, involved in the kidnapping of Earnest Serrano (which technically is true), and footage of them acting as the Laughing Man and meeting with Serrano is shown on television.
An emergency cabinet meeting is called to deal with the issue. Chief Aramaki lures the Prime Minister out of the meeting anonymously and introduces the evidence indicating Yakushima's guilt while Togusa waits in the car. The Prime Minister agrees that Yakushima needs to be dealt with, but he doesn't want bad press regarding his party just before elections and letting go of Yakushima would be a domino that knocks away much of his support. Therefore, he decides to spur the passage of a Special Forces Bill that ends up implying Aramaki's abandonment of his team and the disbanding of Section 9. Aramaki fights against it, but he is overruled and it all goes sideways. Togusa is arrested as the Chief is taken out of the scene. The chief cybercoms the Major, telling her that things have broken down. He warns her merely to "stay alive", and she understands. She tells the rest of the team to make preparations to dismiss everything and make a run for it.
The Special Forces breaks into their headquarters with a half-dozen power suits and several squads of soldiers. Section 9 puts up a fight, killing several of them, but eventually they set up some dummies and blow everything after escaping deeper underground. The SF find the bodies, but continue searching, assuming the possibility that they are decoys until they can confirm whether the cyberbrains have ever been used.
Meanwhile, one of the Tachikomas helping at a retirement home sees the news and begins wondering what is going on with Section 9. It seems to feel disheartened that its home is being destroyed, but feeling the pull of its duties, it continues about its work, though uneasily.
Back with the team, Major Kusanagi tells everyone to split up in pairs during their escape and then split up completely after that, to meet up later some indefinite time down the road. Batou and Major Kusanagi make a pair, and during their escape Batou laments the loss of Section 9, but Kusanagi just says it was a nice set up. It wasn't like they couldn't meet up again later and continue to do their work under different pretenses. Kusanagi teases him for being sentimental about the place. Batou then asks what happened to the watch she was always wearing, and she mentions that she had left it at her house by her bed. Batou asks why she wears it, but she doesn't provide a clear answer, merely saying that it wasn't for sentimental reasons. Batou asks why she always stuck with female bodies, if perhaps it was because the more slender arms made it easier to where the watch. Kusanagi just says, "I changed my body and braincase as circumstances required; therefore I'll just change my memories too." They then reach the exit and go their separate ways.
Togusa is in the middle of interrogation that is getting nowhere as he tries to explain the nature of their operation to the government interrogators, attempting to clear away the idea that they are working against the government of Japan. Borma and Paz, who have made another pair of Section 9, exit the sewers and split up, but are both captured almost immediately afterward by the SF.
Episode 25:
Batou arrives at Kusanagi's estate with the intention of getting her watch back. From afar, he can't detect any soldiers at the premises. Upon entering though, soldiers appear following him, including a power suit. They engage in combat right after he gets his hands on the watch, and Batou manages to take down all of them, first by blinding most of the enemy soldiers in an explosion and shooting them down, and then by hacking the eyes of the pilot in the power suit. Thinking that one of his attacks had severed Batou's head, the pilot gets out to confirm the kill, but Batou appears behind him and shoots him in the head.
Aramaki is shown inside a car with a politician who urges him not to go down with his men, but Aramaki asserts that he won't abandon his team, that Section 9 can't be replaced and in fact won't be Section 9 without those particular members anymore. He gets out of the car and walks away. Ishikawa is then shown getting captured, but not before he is able to launch an unknown program from a public terminal.
The Tachikoma at the retirement home relates its conflicting feelings regarding the destruction of its home to one of the elderly members on the roof of the building. The old man, who had been in a war many years ago, offers him an outdated piece of destructive equipment that can be used as ammunition for the think tank's cannon. Feeling encouraged by the old man, the Tachikoma sets out to save the day. It meets up with a Tachikoma that escaped the lab and another one that was working at a construction site. All of them seemed to have the same idea at the same time ("to help Mr. Batou") and had all come to the same place. The three of them set off to do their job.
As Batou is getting ready to leave in a car, a second power suit appears out of the forest surrounding Kusanagi's house. It ambushes him, dealing substantial damage and knocking him out. Just before it destroys him, the Tachikomas arrive ramming into it and knocking it back into the forest. The power suit immediately destroys the lab Tachikoma that ran into him with its primary machine gun. The other two enter the forest. The power suit shoots up the construction Tachikoma, but despite the damage, it manages to immobilize the suit's weapon by shooting its sticky wires at it, giving the retirement-home Tachikoma the time it needs to line up its one shot. At the moment it tries to shoot though, the weapon appears to be a dud and doesn't fire. The power suit then shoots up the retirement-home Tachikoma. At that point, Batou wakes up and looks over the edge of the complex into forest to where he hears a commotion.
Retirement Tachikoma looks up from its collapsed heap towards the power suit walking towards it, saying, "Oh God, we're weak and powerless, my fellow Tachikomas and I." Then Kusanagi's voice pops in, saying, "That's not true. What you and the others have gained makes you far from powerless." Both of the Tachikomas hear her voice, and begin moving again. Construction Tachikoma manages to aim its wires and shoot past the suit, pulling itself towards it and ramming it from behind, saying, "Now!" Retirement Tachikoma looks up at Batou and sees him looking on in shock. Some oil drips out of its eye socket as if a tear, and it despairingly says, "Goodbye, Mr. Batou" before leaping towards the oncoming power suit, crushing its front cannon, activating the explosive material stuck there, and exploding, obliterating everything in the area.
In a different body, the Major shows up, viewing the destruction alongside Batou. She says that even though she was the one who said they were useless as weapons because their AI had evolved too quickly, the entire time they were busy accumulating data and synchronizing with each other had resulted in them acquiring individuality. She never knew, not an inkling, that they had even become capable of self-sacrifice. She laments not realizing it sooner because then she might have been able to discover whether or not what they had found was actually a ghost. At that point, choppers start coming in, and the two make a run for it.
They return to Kusanagi's safehouse overlooking the old Section 9 building. Kusanagi switches back into her original body and Batou gives her the watch he got back. He then realizes that its specialness to her is the fact that, regardless of what form she has physically or who she becomes as a person, that watch is the only thing that remains constant. She mentions that they are probably the only ones from Section 9 who haven't been arrested or killed and they both agree to "complete their mission". The next day, getting ready to board a helicopter, the Major is sniped from afar by the SF, her head blown to smithereens, and Batou is captured immediately as he anguishes over her demise.
Episode 26:
Kusanagi floats around the Internet, her mind having escaped from her body at the last moment, and searches for the Laughing Man's domain. She eventually finds him in the digital environment, and he asks her incredulously whether it was really possible for a mind devoid of any shell could exist as a unique identity within the Internet. Kusanagi replies that she isn't sure as she can't imagine anyone being able to keep their sense of identity in the sea of the net. The Laughing Man believes this to be a source of despair for those who are constantly losing their individuality as they live on. Kusanagi tells him that he could always give "death" a try, and he suggests that its an ever-available choice. He then compliments her on the charm with which she kept her promise.
Togusa endures a complete lack of any information regarding the past 3 months. He is released 15 days after initially being arrested, put on indefinite leave from his job, and is left waiting for someone to notify him of what to do next, a person who never comes. Stuck at home, relenting the burden he is putting on his family being an unemployed husband in Japanese society, he grows irritable. Looking at the news, he sees how a different government agency takes credit for the arrest of Secretary General Yakushima and his men, using the research that they, Section 9, had conducted. He eventually takes his gun and approaches the site of the press conference in order to shoot the man who appeared as the one responsible for taking Yakushima into custody, but just before he goes through with it, right outside the crowd of reporters, Batou appears, greeting him like nothing had happened. He tells him to follow him and Togusa, confused, and still stuck with his feelings of abandonment, he accompanies him.
Batou brings Togusa to the new base of operations for Section 9. Apparently the Chief had arranged for all of them to be able to resume work, so long as they could evade the police. Togusa had been locked up for his safety, to avoid the attention of the Special Forces. He had no prosthetics and had just gotten out of the hospital. The Chief pretended to sacrifice Section 9, making a deal with the Prime Minister, and ensuring that the group members' histories could later be fudged so that they could resume operations later on.
Kusanagi takes a car to a library and finds the Laughing Man's coat and hat at the front entrance. She puts on the hat, with the name "Aoi" written inside it, indicating his name, and goes inside. She finds him, Aoi, inside, programming machines to organize and preserve shelves upon shelves of authentic, priceless books. She asks if he thought he could change the world from the library, and he simply said that he thought once he had shared his memories with her, that she would be able to handle the rest. He then says that, "the minute you share and synchronize all your information, you lose your uniqueness and become absorbed into the unconscious maliciousness of a third party that has no motive or perhaps into the will of someone who does have one." He explains how even she played the role of the Laughing Man and that the thing that had started it all was him stumbling upon a lost piece of mail on the net that had a blackmail document that had probably been sent to Serrano Genomics. It was armed with a thesis comparing the effectiveness of the Murai vaccine and micro-machines in battling Cyberbrain sclerosis and the person who authored it was likely the only person who could be deemed as the "original Laughing Man." Aoi says that he was kidding himself in thinking that it was his personal mission to bring the truth to light, having grown dejected at the base nature of the society and becoming mute on the subject (hence the Catcher-in-the-Rye-referencing slogan about pretending to be a deaf-mute).
He then expresses his surprise that so many copies could spring up despite the absence of an original. The both of them agree that the name for this phenomenon should be the "Stand Alone Complex". Aoi believes this occurrence marks the beginning of a new era of despair, and Kusanagi isn't exactly sure what effect it will have, but she is sure of one thing that has the power to restore one's individuality, even after all one's information has been synchronized: everyday human curiosity.
Aoi then asks what will happen to him, voicing being arrested for hacking or inciting the terrorist acts as possibilities, but Kusanagi says it "his" decision, pointing at the entrance as Chief Aramaki enters. Aramaki assures Aoi that he has no intention of charging him for such things, but rather asks him if he wants to join Section 9. Despite the fact that he thinks it would be interesting, he declines as he doesn't work well with others. With that, Kusanagi tosses Aoi back his hat, and the two of them leave the library, getting back to work with the rest of the renewed Section 9.
Analysis:
The first order of business is to examine the ethics involving the borrowing of human brains as raw processing power. While it has no highly detrimental effects due to the fact that it puts a light burden on the individual (due to the high volume of people being used) - and this can be assumed based on the fact that the people being used didn't suddenly collapse from overextending their brains - the fact remains that Section 9 used those people's minds without them being aware of it. It could be argued that those people have a duty as members of their society to help their society protect itself by offering their services to the community when needed; however, while that is a noble endeavor and the Bible certainly advocates people putting their efforts towards helping the community, the Bible is even more consumed with decisions as they pertain to spiritual development in the light of Truth and the Truth is that those individuals are simply being used.
It does no good for them spiritually because they are unaware of their contribution to society and therefore are not in anyway able to spiritually grow through the experience. It also fails to benefit the spiritual state of Ishikawa and the other members of Section 9 because it diminishes the viewpoint from which they relate to others in their society. If a person can be reduced to merely being a source of convenience and power, then their human factor is eliminated and those who take advantage of this "source" become oppressors planting themselves in control of those who in fact deserve to be their equals. To think of it from God's perspective as well, humans do not own their bodies. People's "shells" if you will, are on loan from God, as the Bible says: "Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies." (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) Therefore, any attempt people make to control or take advantage of others is in fact an attempt to subvert God's dominion and take that which belongs to Him.
The next major idea present in this series of episodes is the Tachikomas, the development of their individuality, and their ability to care for others, value their life, be willing to sacrifice that life in the hope of protecting those they love, and depend on a spiritual existence to give them comfort in the face of their oncoming death.
Of course the primary skepticism in this is the very idea that a machine can actually "feel" these things. One could argue that machines can only feel things due to the way in which they are made to feel them, that they have instructions that merely tell them they are to respond stating that they feel a certain way, but that the authenticity of this feeling or emotion is a complete sham. It is more akin to having an awareness of one's emotional state and yet not experiencing it, but pretending to. There is merit to this line of thinking due to the fact that such behavior would be both misleading and against Truth by its very nature, so if a soul were present, it would be designed in a manner so as to automatically work against the natural order of things (ergo, be sinful). However, this is merely an argument of authentic design. If humans truly devised a means of differentiating the types of input the computerized brain received from these notifications, created a different "experience" based on the nature of the response it was supposed to have, then humans would have succeeded in crafting a more stable similarity to the human mind. More would still need to be done to make an authentic design, such as ensuring in some way that the experience retains the same type of psychological and emotional connection that the human experience does (for example, having the "happy" feeling actually provide the same kind of physical and emotional responses that the mental acknowledgement of being happy brings to people. The same with sadness causing a pain response and the like). Only in this way would humans be able to truly create AIs that can be given a chance of being viewed as "human". Until then, the argument is a moot point.
Now, if it were assumed that these machines could indeed think and feel as a human does, would that in any way grant them the same rights or positions in society as a human? Well, it would seem appropriate to first determine what sets the humans apart from the machines at that point and second to determine what it is that God defines as the "Image of God" as that is the generally held idea from which Christians define the state of human beings. To answer the first question, one must analyze the way in which thoughts and feelings are experienced. Some measure of research has already been conducted by scientists at the University of Glasgow in Scotland into the development of inorganic life forms, proving that the elements that exhibit life-like qualities (namely self-replication and evolution) are capable of happening in inorganic forms involving chemicals. Given this fact, one can then stem forward the possibility of advanced inorganic life forms being a possibility, ones that could be developed with a particular level of intelligence. Such intelligence could always be engineered artificially, but the status of that intelligence would always be prone to adaptation and evolution, much like a human mind. In light of this, it is possible that humanity could one day be dealing with artificially intelligent machines that completely resembled the human body and mind in all its glory.
People normally don't associate merely the human form with the "Image of God" (as a deformed human doesn't stop having the "Image of God" according to the Christian theology). Drawing from the very first pair of posts on this blog, the "Image of God" essentially belongs to the human's state of consciousness, one's capacity for self-conception or understanding. Does the being experience life? Is it designed to - in its relatively perfect form - think and feel as many humans normally do (not necessarily that the person is currently in that state, but rather that, without being further developed or evolved, the being would normally have such capacities barring any kind of malfunction in the inner workings of their mechanics)? These questions are framed such that things such as robots that are not sufficiently developed as per the previous description would be excluded, but that those humans with mental disabilities would still be recognized as human beings. By these criteria, the differentiated minds of machines crafted using the same forms as a human's, albeit crafted with inorganic materials instead of organic ones, would be assumed to be just as human as a normal human, developed in the very same way. Just because the basic physical building blocks are different doesn't mean the mental/emotional state is any different. That would be akin to saying that a chair made with different materials is no longer a chair, even if all of the qualities and characteristics they otherwise possess are equivalent. In the same way, there is sufficient evidence to believe that such beings would be identical to humans in considerations of spiritual significance as well. It is likely that such beings would have the potential to be accepted by the human society as equals and would at that point be judged no differently (barring any extreme prejudice based solely on their origins). These beings would, by any definition, be worthy of God's love and devotion just as much as a regular human, just as much as a human cloned from a single cell would be considered "human" and "loved by God". These "clones" would simply be formed from inorganic cells.
The final thing to address is the very nature of the Stand Alone Complex and the individuality/shell/ghost relationship. Already addressed previously was the idea of what a human would be if their consciousness was shared amongst several different shells. Well, in the absence of a shell, a human mind retaining its individuality would be just as recognizable as a human being as those individuals; they would simply have the potential to enter into a custom shell of their choosing. As for the notion of a Stand Alone Complex, the idea that our society can exist in a state in which our individuality is lost and we all are capable of assimilating into an existence that has no direct origin but to which all people pledge loyalty, there is significant danger.
Aoi, the Laughing Man, finds this to be a disturbing state, and it cannot be denied that the loss of human individuality, that which makes us able to understand things uniquely, come to independent conclusions, and be aware of oneself, is of absolute importance, especially because it is one's only means of maintaining one's connection to one's soul, that can be known for sure anyway. There is no way to verify whether completely merging with another identity results in the loss of one's own soul, and without any possibility of knowing for sure, such a state can only be assumed to result in the worst: death of those who succumb to the legion. That said, there is no reason to think that such a legion is inherently bad in and of itself. The legion's collective will would be the thing that ultimately determines its spiritual relationship with God.
Motoko Kusanagi's belief in the power of human curiosity to keep people retained in their sense of self is highly similar to the belief that Christians have to believe in God to keep themselves grounded in some way. When people are lost, they look to their faith as a means of maintaining stability in reality. However, there are many Christians out there. There are many characteristics and associations that tie us with others. Ghost int he Shell states that the only uniquely individual thing humans can take advantage of is their capacity to desire to know something, something that they individually want to know. And with that, Ghost in the Shell hits quite close to the mark. The fundamental nature of God is to love, create, explore, and reveal goodness in truth. Humans mirror this in that they pursue happiness through relationships, creation, exploration of the universe and understanding of knowledge. So long as a person depends on their God-given desire to pursue these things, they will find themselves, regardless of what depths of social association or even disassociation they find themselves embedded in.
Thursday, December 5, 2013
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
Immortality: Should There Be A Limit To The Human Life? (GITS 17-20)
Episode 17:
Chief Aramaki and Major Kusanagi go to London to attend the International Counter-Terrorism Conference. While there, Aramaki visits an old female friend of his from his earlier days as Kusanagi gets some down time. Aramaki tells Kusanagi his friend is a wine fund broker. Kusanagi gets a bit confused and Aramaki explains how people will use wine as a means of investing their money since it's particular taste and aroma can't be duplicated effectively. Of course, the value can only go up as well. Kusanagi is instructed to pick him back up in two hours.
After going inside, he notices a ring on her finger, though he doesn't say anything. He expresses his surprise at how she suddenly went into politics in England 2 years ago, but she replies that she is more interested in business as of late. She then relates to him her fears that one of the managers of the bank is helping to launder money for the mafia. She noticed a file that is disguised quite well, but has such a powerful defense barrier that she can't get inside to see what's in it. She also claims that there has to be a third party, a mediator between the bank management and the mafia. Aramaki is clear that he can't help directly due to the fact that it's out of his jurisdiction.
When Aramaki asks if she has any proof, two men come into the closed store, knocking out the security guard, shutting the blinds, turning off all of the cameras, and hacking into the computer system. Held at gunpoint, the two are stuck watching the two criminals who have apparently just split from the mafia and are running away with the "secret ledger" stored on the computer there.
The audience then sees one of the bank officials calling the head of the police department and instructing him that his top priority is to retrieve the ledger. It isn't a problem if there are casualties during a raid.
Back at the scene, the cops arrive. Aramaki tells one of the criminals to step away from the window moments before he is shot at by sniper fire. Angry and confused, they accuse Aramaki of calling the cops, but Aramaki informs them of the true situation: for the cops to have arrived so quickly, without any official notice, means that someone high-up in the police force must be aware of their break off from the mafia and is intent on securing the ledger. Since that would imply that he and his friend's lives are in danger as well, Aramaki offers to help the men escape. He supplies the brains, and they supply the power. The criminals have few other options.
In the meantime, Kusanagi arrives, but finds the police line stopping her from getting closer. She asks if she can be informed of the situation since one of the Japanese government officials could be in the building, but she is denied access. Kusanagi then leaks the story to the media so that the police can't do anything dangerous that might risk the life of the Chief. As per his instructions, the group rigs a grenade trap at the front entrance which the cops notice. The police then try to come in through the side, but the extra time gives Aramaki and co. the time they need to plant the security officer by the sewer entrance within the building in a plan to trick the police as to their whereabouts.
Kusanagi makes her way inside after tricking one of the SWAT members, knocking him out, and occupying his uniform. She then observes the police going into the sewers in pursuit, but guesses that Aramaki wouldn't have been so obvious. She eventually finds him after all the soldiers have cleared the building and assumed they aren't inside. Opening a hidden vault full of valuable wine, the four of them are all huddled inside the chamber, waiting for her. During the event, Aramaki got a copy of the ledger from one of the criminals (though the criminal didn't realize he wasn't using it to flee the police), and he uses it to inform the proper authorities as to the activities of the corrupt bank manager and police chief. The criminals are offered a clean slate, so long as they don't get involved with the mafia any more.
Episode 18:
Aramaki and the team are asked by a Chinese official to watch over a Chinese politician as he visits a monument. The visit is getting lots of publicity. At the same time, Aramaki visits a grave where the sister of the deceased friend of his. She expresses concerns that her younger brother has been acting strange lately: talking to no one, getting interested in her father's studies, staying cooped up in his room and not seeming to sleep at all. Aramaki mentions how none of his compatriots ever knew when her father slept either. One time he responded to her saying, "You're still up honey? Saori, you should get some sleep." Aramaki, although acknowledging that it seemed odd, confessed that he couldn't use his resources to assist her in any way. He would be guilty of Abuse of Power.
When he returns to his team, they explain how they have been looking up on potential threats to the Chinese assemblyman and they find a red flag: parts of a sniper rifle that have just recently been smuggled into the country. All of them picked up by the same individual, Saori's younger brother. Involved in the case now, the team goes to their house to bring him in, but he's already left. The team realize that he'd been studying up on his dad's techniques intensely which is helping him to evade capture. His dad had been the top instructor for all manner of military activity and espionage at the academy.
Upon further analysis, it would appear that the password for the administrative barrier had been stored inside the man's personal computer and when Saori's younger brother Yuu inherited it at 16, he started spending more and more time with the device. It would take several hours for the team to be able to crack the code to get a peak at what's inside.
Ishikawa chimes in with his report, and according to his analysis of Yuu's recent behavior and the ease with which he is anticipating the moves of the police force, he believes that Yuu is literally sharing his head with someone trained by the special forces in advanced tactics.
Shortly thereafter, Chief Aramaki receives a message, a message from his deceased friend, speaking through the body of Yuu. He is burning with revenge against the assemblyman for past crimes. He had overwritten his memories into his cyberbrain. He never expected the potential danger of it, that "it would turn him into an assassin." Within the data library hidden on his computer had been the truth behind his mother's death. He says that who he is right now is both father and son combined together, memories blending together and affecting his will. He states that his thoughts are driving his actions, "or maybe it's the other way around," and he admits that after it's all over, he may not be himself anymore. He believes that it is Yuu's youthfulness that, through the blending, has caused him to lose control of himself.
At the event in question, nobody can find him attempting to snipe. A group of adolescents carrying flowers move forward and Yuu pops out from them angling a knife toward the Chinese official, but he is stopped at the last moment by Kusanagi who was covering the official close by while cloaked. After Kusanagi eventually loosens her grip, Yuu activates a bomb hidden within his bouquet and the camera cuts to a hospital room in which Yuu is being hospitalized, the team is all safe, including the Chinese official who has already left for China, and the hospital is in the process of re-writing Yuu's memories to wipe away the attached persona. There is a small chance that he may retain some self-identity, but in all likelihood, he will wake up a completely different person. Saori doesn't mind though, because he would still be "Yuu" to her.
Episode 19:
A series of girls are being stolen right off the street without any indication of the method. They simply disappear. Any cameras watching them glitch for a moment and the next, they've vanished. The group of disappearances have been attributed to a theft technique called Blindfold Ivan. The mass abductions were denied by former Japanese prime minister Kanzaki. Kanzaki, taken out of the scene due to his actions in the past, suddenly finds his daughter missing, requests the help of the government, and is answered by Section 9.
When Aramaki informs him that they believe it is the work of the mass abductions he has previously denied though, he becomes angry. He finds it hard to believe that the abductions, likely committed by the Northern Territories Mafia, have accidentally included the capture of his daughter, especially when his actions protected them from retaliation by the government. He was essentially a backer for them, and Aramaki asserts that those who are somewhat lower on the tier would be unlikely to be aware of his efforts on their behalf.
Kusanagi tells the team to start checking out local areas where they could break down people quickly as shipping them overseas intact would be far too much trouble. Stumbling upon one facility in which a woman and a short man are arguing with a tall man over previous payments, Batou and Togusa spook the short man who thinks the taller one brought back up. The short guy then shoots him. Batou and Togusa pursue the pair into the facility. Togusa takes out the remaining guy, but Batou only manages to get a single shot off the woman as she flees further inside. Togusa spots a truck, opens the back of it, and finds the women who have been kidnapped, only to be ambushed from behind by the woman. During the hand-to-hand combat that ensued, Togusa pulls the woman's arm off and she darts into the truck and starts driving off. Batou, seeing the woman get away and recognizing her, yells at Togusa to throw the arm away. Togusa looks down, hears a beeping noise accelerating, and tosses the arm at the truck. It explodes, breaking a hole in the garage door and the truck makes it through, damaged, but functioning.
Batou updates Kusanagi and informs her that the kidnapper is a Russian spy (likely around 80 by this time - in a young body) who likely isn't aware that she is carrying cargo belonging to a financial backer of her superiors (as the Russians are linked to he Northern Territories Mafia). Taking advantage of this, Aramaki presents an idea to Kanzaki: spread the word about what has happened, who the culprit is, and what she is doing. It would mean admitting that reality of the Blindfold Ivan abductions, political suicide, but it would ensure the safety of his daughter as the kidnapper wouldn't want to risk causing bad relations for her home country.
As she tries to find a buyer for her stock, she keeps getting rejected and one of the men inform her that she's got hot property, filling her in on the details. She makes a break for the embassy, but gets cornered by Kusanagi and Batou. In the end, the women are saved, including Kanzaki's daughter, and Aramaki has indirectly ensured that Kanzaki pay for deceiving the public.
Episode 20:
Retracing steps in the Laughing Man case, Togusa finds a woman who processed several papers pertaining to the memory overwrites of the men who saw Nanao He (na-nao-eh), but who purportedly doesn't know what they were to be used for. Analyzing her memories and her testimony, all testimonies match, so they confirm that she is telling the truth.
Re-examining all the paperwork regarding the case, Togusa searches through the digital archives to find evidence of the Laughing Man's involvement with the woman's possession, but he gets no results. Suddenly, after thinking about the Laughing Man logo's slogan that circles around the smiling face. It reads, "I thought what I'd do was I'd pretend I was one of those deaf-mutes." Realizing that this line was similar to a statement he read back at the government health facility where especially skilled children were being exploited. He had found the phrase at the only place where one could connect to the outside.
When he brings it up with the Major, he mentions how the line is from the Catcher in the Rye, but that the one back at the health center went on to say, "Or should I?". The fact that the message went on even further led him to believe that the original Laughing Man was the silent kid back at the facility. He also simultaneously comes to the conclusion that, because he is a criminal "whose outdated actions don't fit at all with his technical ability" (kidnapping a CEO on live television at gunpoint), the Laughing Man has a huge reliance on things that aren't digitized. Physical storage as opposed to digital storage is where he would pursue things. With that, he gets permission to continue searching for clues regarding the latest ghost-hack, but with a focus on determining if anything physical was taken as opposed to something digital that was copied.
He eventually stumbles upon a missing folder, and his wife who works with the archives department the only people who might be interested in document stored in that particular chest would be the Sunflower Society, a group of lawyers who offer to help people fight against the big corporations who abuse them.
Togusa monologues about how in 2019, as cyberization became commonplace, people occasionally began having their brain cells harden and cause brain death, eventually known as Cyberbrain sclerosis. Chitose Murai develops a tumor suppressant called the Murai vaccine, but at the time, the medical professionals of the day were heavily invested in the development of micro-machine therapy and so didn't want the vaccine to come into play as it was a "step backwards." The approval for the Murai Vaccine got shelved and in 2021, Murai died, never seeing his work go to the people. Later the same year, the vaccine was sanctioned as a "fee-based clinical trial drug," though no one was made aware of it at the time. The only people even still interested in this mystery is the Sunflower Society.
The Sunflower Society's logo has a big smiling sunflower with petals swirling around its face. Noticing the similarity to the Laughing Man's logo, Togusa pays them a visit, posing as a journalist who lost his father to Cyberbrain sclerosis. It was the disease's cure that became the focal point of the Laughing Man terrorist operations. Convincing the man in charge with his sorrowful story, the man tells Togusa all about how the vaccine actually does work, but it wasn't approved because people couldn't explain HOW it worked. It was more of a medical miracle-accident. Despite this, special individuals still take the drug under the table.
The lawyer shows him a file that had just come in the other day that has a list of all individuals who ever received the vaccine. The list had high-level researchers, doctors, politicians, etc. Togusa recognized it as the file that had gone missing from the box he had examined before. The lawyer claims that the file arrived from the chairman of the board of the central drug evaluation council Imakurusu. The lawyer explains how things are looking up because the chairman said he would testify as to why he wouldn't approve the vaccine.
Then, suddenly, the lights go out. The narcotic squad comes in, blazing fire and killing people in the hallways. Togusa pushes the lawyer out the door with the record and knocks out two of the shooters. The leader gets a shot off Togusa and Togusa shoots at the window and jumps out of it to escape. He systematically latches onto things and falls until he gets to the ground. There is an image of the lawyer getting captured by the narcotic squad, but the leader reports that the record there is a copy (so the original is still out there) and that they are in pursuit of a survivor. The camera then cuts to Togusa who stumbles into the street using his cybercom to send the Chief and the Major a distress signal.
Analysis:
The general theme of these episode appears to be the attempts by individuals to extend the life and value of things. London Mafia laundering money and extending its value by investing it in wine. A soldier who saw to it that he would be reborn through the life of his son, a mind fused with another in order to keep his life beyond the meager limits of a natural human vitality. A Russian Spy 80+ years in age moving with the agility of 30-year-old field agent, abound with combat skills, ingenuity, and experience. And finally people using micro-machines as a means of correcting diseases that flare up.
Foregoing the obvious ethical issues involved in extending one's life by taking over another person's life, is it right or wrong for people to live for a particular length of time? People generally think that it is a good thing for someone to be able to live longer. Firstly, if people live longer there will be fewer people saddened by the loss of a loved one so frequently in their lifetime (presumably, without war and similar factors).
There is an obvious problem of population growth, but that would always be an issue and doesn't make it necessarily ethical for a person to do so. If a person's youthfulness can be preserved as well (or re-established via going full-cyborg), then the number of jobs and lives that will need satisfying will increase dramatically. Pension plans would most certainly need to be re-evaluated. Again, however, these are merely side-effects of it that may or may not be desirable, but don't necessarily make it a right or wrong thing naturally.
It is natural for human beings to want to live longer and stay young longer, but there are two points at which human beings reach a peak. One is the time at which the human simply becomes tired of existing. A human's mind can most definitely become tired of life in general and simply be ready for everything to stop. Would it be moral for those people to merely end their lives or for a family to end it for their sake? That falls outside the scope of this discussion; however, one can be sure that God will want people to be making their decisions for His sake and with Him in mind.
The other case is where people live so long and maintain their youth for so long that they begin to feel like that are able to approach God's realm or status. Getting ever closer to immortality. The idea is much like the Tower of Babel, so in this case, we can determine that if people are getting older and living longer merely to be able to do it, to be able to prove something to someone about it, then that can be said to be an improper motivation according to the Bible. If instead though a person becomes older but maintains their youth because they wish to do more good in the world, or because they want to live to see their grandchildren, or for some other reasonably relational or benevolent cause, then that can be said to be a Biblical reasoning. The Bible as a whole is an advocate of family and living for the sake of others; therefore, any motivations for the sake of those goals that ultimately work to fulfill those ideas are valid and precious.
Chief Aramaki and Major Kusanagi go to London to attend the International Counter-Terrorism Conference. While there, Aramaki visits an old female friend of his from his earlier days as Kusanagi gets some down time. Aramaki tells Kusanagi his friend is a wine fund broker. Kusanagi gets a bit confused and Aramaki explains how people will use wine as a means of investing their money since it's particular taste and aroma can't be duplicated effectively. Of course, the value can only go up as well. Kusanagi is instructed to pick him back up in two hours.
After going inside, he notices a ring on her finger, though he doesn't say anything. He expresses his surprise at how she suddenly went into politics in England 2 years ago, but she replies that she is more interested in business as of late. She then relates to him her fears that one of the managers of the bank is helping to launder money for the mafia. She noticed a file that is disguised quite well, but has such a powerful defense barrier that she can't get inside to see what's in it. She also claims that there has to be a third party, a mediator between the bank management and the mafia. Aramaki is clear that he can't help directly due to the fact that it's out of his jurisdiction.
When Aramaki asks if she has any proof, two men come into the closed store, knocking out the security guard, shutting the blinds, turning off all of the cameras, and hacking into the computer system. Held at gunpoint, the two are stuck watching the two criminals who have apparently just split from the mafia and are running away with the "secret ledger" stored on the computer there.
The audience then sees one of the bank officials calling the head of the police department and instructing him that his top priority is to retrieve the ledger. It isn't a problem if there are casualties during a raid.
Back at the scene, the cops arrive. Aramaki tells one of the criminals to step away from the window moments before he is shot at by sniper fire. Angry and confused, they accuse Aramaki of calling the cops, but Aramaki informs them of the true situation: for the cops to have arrived so quickly, without any official notice, means that someone high-up in the police force must be aware of their break off from the mafia and is intent on securing the ledger. Since that would imply that he and his friend's lives are in danger as well, Aramaki offers to help the men escape. He supplies the brains, and they supply the power. The criminals have few other options.
In the meantime, Kusanagi arrives, but finds the police line stopping her from getting closer. She asks if she can be informed of the situation since one of the Japanese government officials could be in the building, but she is denied access. Kusanagi then leaks the story to the media so that the police can't do anything dangerous that might risk the life of the Chief. As per his instructions, the group rigs a grenade trap at the front entrance which the cops notice. The police then try to come in through the side, but the extra time gives Aramaki and co. the time they need to plant the security officer by the sewer entrance within the building in a plan to trick the police as to their whereabouts.
Kusanagi makes her way inside after tricking one of the SWAT members, knocking him out, and occupying his uniform. She then observes the police going into the sewers in pursuit, but guesses that Aramaki wouldn't have been so obvious. She eventually finds him after all the soldiers have cleared the building and assumed they aren't inside. Opening a hidden vault full of valuable wine, the four of them are all huddled inside the chamber, waiting for her. During the event, Aramaki got a copy of the ledger from one of the criminals (though the criminal didn't realize he wasn't using it to flee the police), and he uses it to inform the proper authorities as to the activities of the corrupt bank manager and police chief. The criminals are offered a clean slate, so long as they don't get involved with the mafia any more.
Episode 18:
Aramaki and the team are asked by a Chinese official to watch over a Chinese politician as he visits a monument. The visit is getting lots of publicity. At the same time, Aramaki visits a grave where the sister of the deceased friend of his. She expresses concerns that her younger brother has been acting strange lately: talking to no one, getting interested in her father's studies, staying cooped up in his room and not seeming to sleep at all. Aramaki mentions how none of his compatriots ever knew when her father slept either. One time he responded to her saying, "You're still up honey? Saori, you should get some sleep." Aramaki, although acknowledging that it seemed odd, confessed that he couldn't use his resources to assist her in any way. He would be guilty of Abuse of Power.
When he returns to his team, they explain how they have been looking up on potential threats to the Chinese assemblyman and they find a red flag: parts of a sniper rifle that have just recently been smuggled into the country. All of them picked up by the same individual, Saori's younger brother. Involved in the case now, the team goes to their house to bring him in, but he's already left. The team realize that he'd been studying up on his dad's techniques intensely which is helping him to evade capture. His dad had been the top instructor for all manner of military activity and espionage at the academy.
Upon further analysis, it would appear that the password for the administrative barrier had been stored inside the man's personal computer and when Saori's younger brother Yuu inherited it at 16, he started spending more and more time with the device. It would take several hours for the team to be able to crack the code to get a peak at what's inside.
Ishikawa chimes in with his report, and according to his analysis of Yuu's recent behavior and the ease with which he is anticipating the moves of the police force, he believes that Yuu is literally sharing his head with someone trained by the special forces in advanced tactics.
Shortly thereafter, Chief Aramaki receives a message, a message from his deceased friend, speaking through the body of Yuu. He is burning with revenge against the assemblyman for past crimes. He had overwritten his memories into his cyberbrain. He never expected the potential danger of it, that "it would turn him into an assassin." Within the data library hidden on his computer had been the truth behind his mother's death. He says that who he is right now is both father and son combined together, memories blending together and affecting his will. He states that his thoughts are driving his actions, "or maybe it's the other way around," and he admits that after it's all over, he may not be himself anymore. He believes that it is Yuu's youthfulness that, through the blending, has caused him to lose control of himself.
At the event in question, nobody can find him attempting to snipe. A group of adolescents carrying flowers move forward and Yuu pops out from them angling a knife toward the Chinese official, but he is stopped at the last moment by Kusanagi who was covering the official close by while cloaked. After Kusanagi eventually loosens her grip, Yuu activates a bomb hidden within his bouquet and the camera cuts to a hospital room in which Yuu is being hospitalized, the team is all safe, including the Chinese official who has already left for China, and the hospital is in the process of re-writing Yuu's memories to wipe away the attached persona. There is a small chance that he may retain some self-identity, but in all likelihood, he will wake up a completely different person. Saori doesn't mind though, because he would still be "Yuu" to her.
Episode 19:
A series of girls are being stolen right off the street without any indication of the method. They simply disappear. Any cameras watching them glitch for a moment and the next, they've vanished. The group of disappearances have been attributed to a theft technique called Blindfold Ivan. The mass abductions were denied by former Japanese prime minister Kanzaki. Kanzaki, taken out of the scene due to his actions in the past, suddenly finds his daughter missing, requests the help of the government, and is answered by Section 9.
When Aramaki informs him that they believe it is the work of the mass abductions he has previously denied though, he becomes angry. He finds it hard to believe that the abductions, likely committed by the Northern Territories Mafia, have accidentally included the capture of his daughter, especially when his actions protected them from retaliation by the government. He was essentially a backer for them, and Aramaki asserts that those who are somewhat lower on the tier would be unlikely to be aware of his efforts on their behalf.
Kusanagi tells the team to start checking out local areas where they could break down people quickly as shipping them overseas intact would be far too much trouble. Stumbling upon one facility in which a woman and a short man are arguing with a tall man over previous payments, Batou and Togusa spook the short man who thinks the taller one brought back up. The short guy then shoots him. Batou and Togusa pursue the pair into the facility. Togusa takes out the remaining guy, but Batou only manages to get a single shot off the woman as she flees further inside. Togusa spots a truck, opens the back of it, and finds the women who have been kidnapped, only to be ambushed from behind by the woman. During the hand-to-hand combat that ensued, Togusa pulls the woman's arm off and she darts into the truck and starts driving off. Batou, seeing the woman get away and recognizing her, yells at Togusa to throw the arm away. Togusa looks down, hears a beeping noise accelerating, and tosses the arm at the truck. It explodes, breaking a hole in the garage door and the truck makes it through, damaged, but functioning.
Batou updates Kusanagi and informs her that the kidnapper is a Russian spy (likely around 80 by this time - in a young body) who likely isn't aware that she is carrying cargo belonging to a financial backer of her superiors (as the Russians are linked to he Northern Territories Mafia). Taking advantage of this, Aramaki presents an idea to Kanzaki: spread the word about what has happened, who the culprit is, and what she is doing. It would mean admitting that reality of the Blindfold Ivan abductions, political suicide, but it would ensure the safety of his daughter as the kidnapper wouldn't want to risk causing bad relations for her home country.
As she tries to find a buyer for her stock, she keeps getting rejected and one of the men inform her that she's got hot property, filling her in on the details. She makes a break for the embassy, but gets cornered by Kusanagi and Batou. In the end, the women are saved, including Kanzaki's daughter, and Aramaki has indirectly ensured that Kanzaki pay for deceiving the public.
Episode 20:
Retracing steps in the Laughing Man case, Togusa finds a woman who processed several papers pertaining to the memory overwrites of the men who saw Nanao He (na-nao-eh), but who purportedly doesn't know what they were to be used for. Analyzing her memories and her testimony, all testimonies match, so they confirm that she is telling the truth.
Re-examining all the paperwork regarding the case, Togusa searches through the digital archives to find evidence of the Laughing Man's involvement with the woman's possession, but he gets no results. Suddenly, after thinking about the Laughing Man logo's slogan that circles around the smiling face. It reads, "I thought what I'd do was I'd pretend I was one of those deaf-mutes." Realizing that this line was similar to a statement he read back at the government health facility where especially skilled children were being exploited. He had found the phrase at the only place where one could connect to the outside.
When he brings it up with the Major, he mentions how the line is from the Catcher in the Rye, but that the one back at the health center went on to say, "Or should I?". The fact that the message went on even further led him to believe that the original Laughing Man was the silent kid back at the facility. He also simultaneously comes to the conclusion that, because he is a criminal "whose outdated actions don't fit at all with his technical ability" (kidnapping a CEO on live television at gunpoint), the Laughing Man has a huge reliance on things that aren't digitized. Physical storage as opposed to digital storage is where he would pursue things. With that, he gets permission to continue searching for clues regarding the latest ghost-hack, but with a focus on determining if anything physical was taken as opposed to something digital that was copied.
He eventually stumbles upon a missing folder, and his wife who works with the archives department the only people who might be interested in document stored in that particular chest would be the Sunflower Society, a group of lawyers who offer to help people fight against the big corporations who abuse them.
Togusa monologues about how in 2019, as cyberization became commonplace, people occasionally began having their brain cells harden and cause brain death, eventually known as Cyberbrain sclerosis. Chitose Murai develops a tumor suppressant called the Murai vaccine, but at the time, the medical professionals of the day were heavily invested in the development of micro-machine therapy and so didn't want the vaccine to come into play as it was a "step backwards." The approval for the Murai Vaccine got shelved and in 2021, Murai died, never seeing his work go to the people. Later the same year, the vaccine was sanctioned as a "fee-based clinical trial drug," though no one was made aware of it at the time. The only people even still interested in this mystery is the Sunflower Society.
The Sunflower Society's logo has a big smiling sunflower with petals swirling around its face. Noticing the similarity to the Laughing Man's logo, Togusa pays them a visit, posing as a journalist who lost his father to Cyberbrain sclerosis. It was the disease's cure that became the focal point of the Laughing Man terrorist operations. Convincing the man in charge with his sorrowful story, the man tells Togusa all about how the vaccine actually does work, but it wasn't approved because people couldn't explain HOW it worked. It was more of a medical miracle-accident. Despite this, special individuals still take the drug under the table.
The lawyer shows him a file that had just come in the other day that has a list of all individuals who ever received the vaccine. The list had high-level researchers, doctors, politicians, etc. Togusa recognized it as the file that had gone missing from the box he had examined before. The lawyer claims that the file arrived from the chairman of the board of the central drug evaluation council Imakurusu. The lawyer explains how things are looking up because the chairman said he would testify as to why he wouldn't approve the vaccine.
Then, suddenly, the lights go out. The narcotic squad comes in, blazing fire and killing people in the hallways. Togusa pushes the lawyer out the door with the record and knocks out two of the shooters. The leader gets a shot off Togusa and Togusa shoots at the window and jumps out of it to escape. He systematically latches onto things and falls until he gets to the ground. There is an image of the lawyer getting captured by the narcotic squad, but the leader reports that the record there is a copy (so the original is still out there) and that they are in pursuit of a survivor. The camera then cuts to Togusa who stumbles into the street using his cybercom to send the Chief and the Major a distress signal.
Analysis:
The general theme of these episode appears to be the attempts by individuals to extend the life and value of things. London Mafia laundering money and extending its value by investing it in wine. A soldier who saw to it that he would be reborn through the life of his son, a mind fused with another in order to keep his life beyond the meager limits of a natural human vitality. A Russian Spy 80+ years in age moving with the agility of 30-year-old field agent, abound with combat skills, ingenuity, and experience. And finally people using micro-machines as a means of correcting diseases that flare up.
Foregoing the obvious ethical issues involved in extending one's life by taking over another person's life, is it right or wrong for people to live for a particular length of time? People generally think that it is a good thing for someone to be able to live longer. Firstly, if people live longer there will be fewer people saddened by the loss of a loved one so frequently in their lifetime (presumably, without war and similar factors).
There is an obvious problem of population growth, but that would always be an issue and doesn't make it necessarily ethical for a person to do so. If a person's youthfulness can be preserved as well (or re-established via going full-cyborg), then the number of jobs and lives that will need satisfying will increase dramatically. Pension plans would most certainly need to be re-evaluated. Again, however, these are merely side-effects of it that may or may not be desirable, but don't necessarily make it a right or wrong thing naturally.
It is natural for human beings to want to live longer and stay young longer, but there are two points at which human beings reach a peak. One is the time at which the human simply becomes tired of existing. A human's mind can most definitely become tired of life in general and simply be ready for everything to stop. Would it be moral for those people to merely end their lives or for a family to end it for their sake? That falls outside the scope of this discussion; however, one can be sure that God will want people to be making their decisions for His sake and with Him in mind.
The other case is where people live so long and maintain their youth for so long that they begin to feel like that are able to approach God's realm or status. Getting ever closer to immortality. The idea is much like the Tower of Babel, so in this case, we can determine that if people are getting older and living longer merely to be able to do it, to be able to prove something to someone about it, then that can be said to be an improper motivation according to the Bible. If instead though a person becomes older but maintains their youth because they wish to do more good in the world, or because they want to live to see their grandchildren, or for some other reasonably relational or benevolent cause, then that can be said to be a Biblical reasoning. The Bible as a whole is an advocate of family and living for the sake of others; therefore, any motivations for the sake of those goals that ultimately work to fulfill those ideas are valid and precious.
Saturday, November 16, 2013
A Cyberized Society: Associated Topics GITS (13-16)
Episode 13:
Eika Tokura, the first girl to receive cyberbrain enhancements several years ago is kidnapped at the age of 16 by a terrorist organization affiliating itself with the ideas of the Human Liberation Front. The HLF is a political organization that believes that cyberization is an unholy practice and that it is important that people remain all-natural, so-to-speak.
The mystery arises when a woman who looks astonishingly like the 16-year-old version of this girl appears in the midst of the terrorist organization itself, a fully-fledged member, participating in events simply days before. They are already provided with intelligence acquired by a separate party concerning the genetic veracity of the individual: her DNA does, in fact, match the DNA of the woman taken over a decade past.
The team is tasked with infiltrating a facility that is believed to be the last known location of the this girl and "figure out what the hell is going on," as Chief Aramaki says.
After arriving at the site, Batou, Saito (the sniper), and one of the Tachikomas are walking around, awaiting a signal that will update them on the timeline of the operation. In the meantime, there is a brief exchange in which Saito remarks on how disgusting "cyborg food" appears as Batou eats it with a smile and the Tachikoma begins telling them about how the crowd of people in the marketplace they are occupying could be full of terrorists and they would never know about it. While one of the salesmen attempts to sell Batou on something, the Tachikoma sends Batou the signal that has just arrived, and Batou expresses his anger at the terrorists making them wait so long to make an appearance; he gestures violently at the augmented reality data that only he can see though, so the shopkeeper gets confused believing that the men are angry with him.
Upon entering the facility, team members encounter one of the operatives from a previous task force, and the person has gone completely mad (repeatedly saying, "Erase them!"), somehow as a result of connecting with "the leader", apparently referring to the younger girl they are ordered to
When Kusanagi storms in on the inner chamber where the terrorist leader is believed to be, they find the 16-year-old girl berating an older woman on acting foolishly and hold them back. When Kusanagi apprehends the girl, she finds that she doesn't have the cyberbrain implants of the original girl and is in fact a clone. The real girl is the elderly woman who was being criticized.
The case closes up with a confused and somber team that wonders what in the world could have happened to her to cause her to age so quickly in such a short span of time.
Episode 14:
The episode opens with an unnamed woman getting off of a plane and looking at the night's cityscape, saying, "this city is haunted by a specter, the specter of capitalism."
It then transitions to the team ambushing a meetup of a criminal group attempting to get revenge on some high-level corporations in south China. After stopping them and investigating the digital files they had on them, they determine that a powerful investor was backing them, a man named Yokose Kanemoto. Apparently he plays e-trading and investing, making a killing, and spending much of his money on the acquisition of gold, despite the fact that he doesn't make many trips to the public. He is a "new breed of corporate extortionist" as he went from mathematician to personal investor.
While discussing the case, the team gets a call from a south China official. Apparently while investigating who had smuggled weapons to the gangsters, they discovered one expenditure that was unmarked, which - from past experience - lead him to believe that an underground assassin was hired for a job. He thought it would be important to notify the Japanese task force. Aramaki instructs them to put round-the-clock security on Yokose, just to be safe.
The unnamed woman from the beginning is then shown again at a bank, exchanging yen for Chinese funds, despite the fact that the clerk informs her the trade is currently more favorable for the yen. She is shown stashing the lines of coins she just exchanged into a hidden gun within her arm. Smirking, she drives off.
Ishikawa explains that he hasn't been able to find any information on Yokose due to the fact that he never makes an appearance anywhere, isn't cyberized, and has had only indirect contact with people in recent times. So all the intel they have is the fact that they know where he lives. He does manage to come across a maintenance appointment on his personal computer, so he fabricates a time and ID for Kusanagi so that she can stroll right in the front door.
Batou gets tied up dealing with some robotic guard dogs. The assassin's car is found out front, so she is one step ahead of them. Kusanagi makes it inside, and sees no one but android servants. She instructs one of the Tachikomas to watch her back as she goes in, but while she is hacking into one of the computers, an android spots her and, detecting suspicious behavior, reveals its weaponry. The major takes it out quickly and scolds the Tachikoma for failing to protect her. The Tachikoma defends itself because it is plugged into one of the androids and informs her that none of them have defense barriers, but the major says that its job is to be her shield, to which the Tachikoma replies, "I don't think of myself that way."
As the assassin begins to shoot at the sleeping Yokose because of his greed (buying up all the wealth of gold and just holding it away from the poor), Kusanagi stops her and breaks her weapon. Shortly thereafter, Togusa and Batou show up (Batou hacked the dogs and made them think he was Yokose), and the three of them discover that Yokose was actually already dead, seemingly of old age. He had devised a money-making program that would simply operate independent of him, and because he was known to be a recluse, no one noticed that he had died some 4 months earlier.
The gold bullion all ends up being taken by the government since the man has no next of kin and his legal advisors are notified of his death. The assassin is arrested, and Togusa sees fit to put one of the yen the assassin used with Yokose as the police take his body away.
Episode 15:
Saito tests out an automatic sniping tool that he was evaluating as bad tech because of the interference he felt it had on ordinary sniping. He hit the target he was aiming at, but only due to his own skill and fighting against the machine's attempts to "correct" his shot. When he and Bouma bring the device back to the base, the Tachikomas flood in, interested to see whether it will become part of Section 9's arsenal, but Saito explains that, for a minimal prosthetic person like him (only his left eye and arm are robotic), the device actually gets in the way of his work.
The Tachikoma's want to try and link up with the sniping system, so they confuse one of the base's androids that are looking after the device by asking it to solve a "self-referenced paradox" ("I never ever tell lies."). After temporarily overloading it, they surreptitiously link up with the sniping system and discover that the whole reason it had "interference" was because it was interpreting Saito's organic inputs as foreign signals and the Tachikoma's start feeling sorry for it, thinking of it as just being a misunderstood and confused robot.
After realizing what the future of the device was (lab testing or scrappage), the Tachikomas begin panicking, thinking that they might be next. They all group together and start discussing the idea. First they deliberate about what the feeling of "dying" might be like, and whether or not they even can die. how Major Kusanagi has been acting cautious around them. They have been noticing their collective discovery of individuality and are worried that the Major will decide to do away with them if she discovers that they are developing unique personalities. The Major, however, is already on to them, and is preparing to talk with Batou about dismissing the Tachikomas and replacing their minds, effectively zeroing them out.
Batou takes his personal Tachikoma out to the training grounds with the recruits and the Tachikoma begins expressing its fearfulness of the Major. It's concerned because it feels that the major doesn't like "something they've acquired recently: individuality." Batou appears all confused, and then the Tachikoma begins talking about how it finally feels like its beginning to understand the concept of God to some degree. It says that, "maybe, just maybe" the God is like analog as the zero is to digital, or in other words, "a symbol that denies the absence of meaning". Batou ends up re-evaluating his sense that his personal Tachikoma is quite the perfect little robot.
Anticipating the Tachikomas in advance, Kusanagi meets with Batou in a room that blocks EM waves so that the Tachikomas can less easily detect what they are saying. She then starts talking about how Batou's methods in handling the soldier recruits needs to be re-examined and that some of the soldiers have to be sent home. Meanwhile, via cybercom, the two are in reality discussing the Tachikomas in a very similar manner about the real issue. The Tachikomas, seeing Kusanagi bring in Batou for questioning, have a cloaked Tachikoma get in close proximity to the discussion and look through the walls, lip-reading to find out if they are saying anything about scrapping the Tachikomas.
When the major is done explaining the situation to Batou, he reluctantly submits to the order. The Tachikoma listening in reports the recruits-variation of the situation to the others, telling them all that things will be fine and most of them begin to feel much more relaxed.
Episode 16:
The episode opens up with the Tachikomas being told they are going back to the lab, but they don't suspect anything now so they are only too happy to return. Batou watches them as they go, a stern resignation in his expression. Batou then accepts an undercover assignment where he is to make contact with potential spy Pavlo Zaitsev. Upon discovering who put Zaitsev to work, he is to apprehend both parties.
Togusa prepares to give Batou a ride to the military base where Zaitsev works as a hand-to-hand combat instructor when he mentions that Batou is feeling down. Batou denies that it's because of the Tachikomas leaving and instead says that he used to really be a fan of Zaitsev who apparently had a history of winning boxing matches throughout his life - even winning the paralympics once. Posing as a visiting soldier from a navy cruiser that just blew into town, he enters the training facility and spars with the guy in a match in front of all the trainees, putting up a good fight before he gets knocked out by "the prosthetic blindspot" (he presumably can't see a particular area due to his prosthetic eyes and Zaitsev bashes him right in the face at one moment).
Invigorated by the presence of a skilled patron, Zaitsev invites Batou back to his home where they talk about Zaitsev's history (Batou examines his many trophies on the wall). Batou mentions that the whole reason he was interested in coming over was to learn about the prosthetic blindspot and wonders why he didn't use it during that last match. Zaitsev reminisces about that last match (not answering his original question), and explains how all the prosthetic manufacturers and financial backers were nowhere to be seen after that incident. His wife brings some home-made, family drinks and snack for them to have, but Zaitsev gets disappointed in his wife for bringing out something so cheap, and then he decides that they are just going to go out to have drinks.
Right after inviting him, Zaitsev's phone goes off and he goes to the side to have a private conversation for a moment. Talking with the wife, Batou finds that he values the family-oriented way in which she was trying to provide hospitality and mentions that he has a wife and a 6-year-old kid himself. Zaitsev pops back in at that moment and says Batou doesn't seem the type. He then tells him that something has come up and that they'll have their drink another time.
The next day, as Zaitsev is working, he runs in to Batou who's been training in the facility. Zaitsev says he is going to take a coffee break and Batou claims he's off to the showers. Zaitsev moves into an office room where one of his fans goes to fetch something for him. While they're gone, he takes the opportunity to begin hacking into one of the computers in the office, stealing data. Batou meanwhile enters Zaitsev's office and tries to backhack the data live. Zaitsev detects that someone is backhacking is hack somehow though, and increases the time it will take purposefully as he makes his way back to his office, confident that that is where his opponent is. Batou is waiting in the office, trying to finish the backhack. By the time Zaitsev gets inside his office, Batou is gone, without a successful backhack. Zaitsev notifies his superiors of the potential threat and they warn him to be wary of "new faces" which makes him think of Batou.
Zaitsev takes Batou out for a drink, and in the midst of their talking, Zaitsev gets another phone call. He goes out to take the call, but proceeds towards a nearby riverside that turns out to be a drop-off point for some of his data. Batou confronts him, shoots down the people Zaitsev is working for, and enters into a fistfight with Zaitsev, calling him pathetic. Batou defeats him, right when Zaitsev uses his winning "prosthetic blindspot," proving that his winning technique was in fact a fraud, that there is no blindspot, that Batou let him win back at their first meeting. Zaitsev admits that he was the one with the "blindspot in his heart" as he is arrested and the episode closes with Batou beating a punching bag, endlessly criticizing Zaitsev, shouting into the air.
Analysis:
In each of these episodes, we find a group of unique effects that cyberization has had on human relationships. Each case presents a significant lesson to be learned in the involvement of machines with society and the ethics involved in such a revolution.
In episode 13, an entire sub-culture of people grow up hating the very idea of cyberization and for a variety of reasons too. This adds a deep division between those who are approved of cyberization and those who are against it. Is this reason enough to deny the introduction of cyberization into society? Is the power of an idea to sow dissent in humanity reason enough to prevent its entrance into the populace? The Bible holds values of truth and discernment in high regard. It is the duty of humans to, with the help of the Holy Spirit, determine the morality and ethics involved in an action or idea. To borrow from some Enlightenment thought, no minority can be denied a voice by the majority lest a noble and positive idea come from a minority-source and be squashed by the ruling powers.
It is up to Christians, as a members of society, to take an idea, examine it, evaluate it as God would have them, and dictate God's will to the world for the sake of the world's understanding (and potentially following along with the ideas). It is when people begin practicing behaviors that haven't been approved by God and the church, together, (and not just the Catholic church, but the church as it pertains to all Christians in the world collectively) that the potential for sin comes into play.
If people can argue that the introduction of a behavior or principle into society would, by its very nature, have highly detrimental effects on said society, then they have every right to argue for the withdrawal/blocking of such ideas being put into practice; however, it is to be expected that all people will fail to share the same conclusions, and thus politics will get involved in the decision as to whether or not a practice will be adopted by the society. Even among Christians, there will be (and are already) divisions in theology, philosophy, and politics. The best each person can do is trust that, via "[seeking God] with all [their] heart", they will "find [Him]" (Jeremiah 29:13).
Episode 14 tells the story of a man who purposefully arranged his life so that the actions of his existence would continue on automatically through a computer, making money, buying gold, and generally being a recluse. In this sense, despite the fact that he himself hadn't been uploaded into a computer, the machine was still enacting his daily lifestyle just as well as he had done. Could this ever be a good thing? Well, if one were to find a way of designing a machine that would accomplish the beneficial works of God in our world automatically, then yes, that would be a spectacular device. Would that free us to no longer feel obligated to do such good works ourselves? Obviously not, as the machine's actions are not a direct relation to our own spiritual state.
It is a people's own actions and will, together, that culminate in the quality of their spiritual devotion. As John states, faith without works is meaningless. In the same way, arranging for one's works to continue, but without the faith involved, is in no way beneficial to that person's salvation.
Episode 15 demonstrates the power of artificial intelligence and the potential it has to create machines that for whatever reason, spark their own form of personality or individuality. The Tachikoma from the episode, however, does mention the fact that it lacks a ghost to Batou. This implies a self-awareness that is purely artificial. In this way, if it is assumed that the soul isn't merely an artificial construction and actually does exist outside of being a mere concept, humans will still have to decide whether these machines are "alive" or whether they have a digital soul in some way.
Based on the Biblical design, God is the one who breathes life into the creatures of the Earth, therefore humans do not have the power to design life, despite having the ability to give birth to it's physical form. As such, humans will need to re-create their definitions of what it is to be a living being and whether or not humans even have the right to develop creatures that can learn and be self-aware. As humans develop such technologies, they will need to start adjusting to the reality of having robots as "members of society," albeit of a second-tier kind.
Finally, in episode 16, the audience finds Zaitsev who not only switched from a broken famous heavyweight champion lifestyle to a life of espionage and data theft, but also managed to lose himself in the process. While this may not be the wholly the result of cyberization itself, the changed world does provide easier access to behaviors that would seem ignoble to the current society.
With these stories connected, one can see that the civilization formed from the ashes of the cyberized revolution would launch a slew of questions that cannot be readily answered, but require the discipline and focus of society's collective minds to ponder and discern exactly what the right course of action is.
Eika Tokura, the first girl to receive cyberbrain enhancements several years ago is kidnapped at the age of 16 by a terrorist organization affiliating itself with the ideas of the Human Liberation Front. The HLF is a political organization that believes that cyberization is an unholy practice and that it is important that people remain all-natural, so-to-speak.
The mystery arises when a woman who looks astonishingly like the 16-year-old version of this girl appears in the midst of the terrorist organization itself, a fully-fledged member, participating in events simply days before. They are already provided with intelligence acquired by a separate party concerning the genetic veracity of the individual: her DNA does, in fact, match the DNA of the woman taken over a decade past.
The team is tasked with infiltrating a facility that is believed to be the last known location of the this girl and "figure out what the hell is going on," as Chief Aramaki says.
After arriving at the site, Batou, Saito (the sniper), and one of the Tachikomas are walking around, awaiting a signal that will update them on the timeline of the operation. In the meantime, there is a brief exchange in which Saito remarks on how disgusting "cyborg food" appears as Batou eats it with a smile and the Tachikoma begins telling them about how the crowd of people in the marketplace they are occupying could be full of terrorists and they would never know about it. While one of the salesmen attempts to sell Batou on something, the Tachikoma sends Batou the signal that has just arrived, and Batou expresses his anger at the terrorists making them wait so long to make an appearance; he gestures violently at the augmented reality data that only he can see though, so the shopkeeper gets confused believing that the men are angry with him.
Upon entering the facility, team members encounter one of the operatives from a previous task force, and the person has gone completely mad (repeatedly saying, "Erase them!"), somehow as a result of connecting with "the leader", apparently referring to the younger girl they are ordered to
When Kusanagi storms in on the inner chamber where the terrorist leader is believed to be, they find the 16-year-old girl berating an older woman on acting foolishly and hold them back. When Kusanagi apprehends the girl, she finds that she doesn't have the cyberbrain implants of the original girl and is in fact a clone. The real girl is the elderly woman who was being criticized.
The case closes up with a confused and somber team that wonders what in the world could have happened to her to cause her to age so quickly in such a short span of time.
Episode 14:
The episode opens with an unnamed woman getting off of a plane and looking at the night's cityscape, saying, "this city is haunted by a specter, the specter of capitalism."
It then transitions to the team ambushing a meetup of a criminal group attempting to get revenge on some high-level corporations in south China. After stopping them and investigating the digital files they had on them, they determine that a powerful investor was backing them, a man named Yokose Kanemoto. Apparently he plays e-trading and investing, making a killing, and spending much of his money on the acquisition of gold, despite the fact that he doesn't make many trips to the public. He is a "new breed of corporate extortionist" as he went from mathematician to personal investor.
While discussing the case, the team gets a call from a south China official. Apparently while investigating who had smuggled weapons to the gangsters, they discovered one expenditure that was unmarked, which - from past experience - lead him to believe that an underground assassin was hired for a job. He thought it would be important to notify the Japanese task force. Aramaki instructs them to put round-the-clock security on Yokose, just to be safe.
The unnamed woman from the beginning is then shown again at a bank, exchanging yen for Chinese funds, despite the fact that the clerk informs her the trade is currently more favorable for the yen. She is shown stashing the lines of coins she just exchanged into a hidden gun within her arm. Smirking, she drives off.
Ishikawa explains that he hasn't been able to find any information on Yokose due to the fact that he never makes an appearance anywhere, isn't cyberized, and has had only indirect contact with people in recent times. So all the intel they have is the fact that they know where he lives. He does manage to come across a maintenance appointment on his personal computer, so he fabricates a time and ID for Kusanagi so that she can stroll right in the front door.
Batou gets tied up dealing with some robotic guard dogs. The assassin's car is found out front, so she is one step ahead of them. Kusanagi makes it inside, and sees no one but android servants. She instructs one of the Tachikomas to watch her back as she goes in, but while she is hacking into one of the computers, an android spots her and, detecting suspicious behavior, reveals its weaponry. The major takes it out quickly and scolds the Tachikoma for failing to protect her. The Tachikoma defends itself because it is plugged into one of the androids and informs her that none of them have defense barriers, but the major says that its job is to be her shield, to which the Tachikoma replies, "I don't think of myself that way."
As the assassin begins to shoot at the sleeping Yokose because of his greed (buying up all the wealth of gold and just holding it away from the poor), Kusanagi stops her and breaks her weapon. Shortly thereafter, Togusa and Batou show up (Batou hacked the dogs and made them think he was Yokose), and the three of them discover that Yokose was actually already dead, seemingly of old age. He had devised a money-making program that would simply operate independent of him, and because he was known to be a recluse, no one noticed that he had died some 4 months earlier.
The gold bullion all ends up being taken by the government since the man has no next of kin and his legal advisors are notified of his death. The assassin is arrested, and Togusa sees fit to put one of the yen the assassin used with Yokose as the police take his body away.
Episode 15:
Saito tests out an automatic sniping tool that he was evaluating as bad tech because of the interference he felt it had on ordinary sniping. He hit the target he was aiming at, but only due to his own skill and fighting against the machine's attempts to "correct" his shot. When he and Bouma bring the device back to the base, the Tachikomas flood in, interested to see whether it will become part of Section 9's arsenal, but Saito explains that, for a minimal prosthetic person like him (only his left eye and arm are robotic), the device actually gets in the way of his work.
The Tachikoma's want to try and link up with the sniping system, so they confuse one of the base's androids that are looking after the device by asking it to solve a "self-referenced paradox" ("I never ever tell lies."). After temporarily overloading it, they surreptitiously link up with the sniping system and discover that the whole reason it had "interference" was because it was interpreting Saito's organic inputs as foreign signals and the Tachikoma's start feeling sorry for it, thinking of it as just being a misunderstood and confused robot.
After realizing what the future of the device was (lab testing or scrappage), the Tachikomas begin panicking, thinking that they might be next. They all group together and start discussing the idea. First they deliberate about what the feeling of "dying" might be like, and whether or not they even can die. how Major Kusanagi has been acting cautious around them. They have been noticing their collective discovery of individuality and are worried that the Major will decide to do away with them if she discovers that they are developing unique personalities. The Major, however, is already on to them, and is preparing to talk with Batou about dismissing the Tachikomas and replacing their minds, effectively zeroing them out.
Batou takes his personal Tachikoma out to the training grounds with the recruits and the Tachikoma begins expressing its fearfulness of the Major. It's concerned because it feels that the major doesn't like "something they've acquired recently: individuality." Batou appears all confused, and then the Tachikoma begins talking about how it finally feels like its beginning to understand the concept of God to some degree. It says that, "maybe, just maybe" the God is like analog as the zero is to digital, or in other words, "a symbol that denies the absence of meaning". Batou ends up re-evaluating his sense that his personal Tachikoma is quite the perfect little robot.
Anticipating the Tachikomas in advance, Kusanagi meets with Batou in a room that blocks EM waves so that the Tachikomas can less easily detect what they are saying. She then starts talking about how Batou's methods in handling the soldier recruits needs to be re-examined and that some of the soldiers have to be sent home. Meanwhile, via cybercom, the two are in reality discussing the Tachikomas in a very similar manner about the real issue. The Tachikomas, seeing Kusanagi bring in Batou for questioning, have a cloaked Tachikoma get in close proximity to the discussion and look through the walls, lip-reading to find out if they are saying anything about scrapping the Tachikomas.
When the major is done explaining the situation to Batou, he reluctantly submits to the order. The Tachikoma listening in reports the recruits-variation of the situation to the others, telling them all that things will be fine and most of them begin to feel much more relaxed.
Episode 16:
The episode opens up with the Tachikomas being told they are going back to the lab, but they don't suspect anything now so they are only too happy to return. Batou watches them as they go, a stern resignation in his expression. Batou then accepts an undercover assignment where he is to make contact with potential spy Pavlo Zaitsev. Upon discovering who put Zaitsev to work, he is to apprehend both parties.
Togusa prepares to give Batou a ride to the military base where Zaitsev works as a hand-to-hand combat instructor when he mentions that Batou is feeling down. Batou denies that it's because of the Tachikomas leaving and instead says that he used to really be a fan of Zaitsev who apparently had a history of winning boxing matches throughout his life - even winning the paralympics once. Posing as a visiting soldier from a navy cruiser that just blew into town, he enters the training facility and spars with the guy in a match in front of all the trainees, putting up a good fight before he gets knocked out by "the prosthetic blindspot" (he presumably can't see a particular area due to his prosthetic eyes and Zaitsev bashes him right in the face at one moment).
Invigorated by the presence of a skilled patron, Zaitsev invites Batou back to his home where they talk about Zaitsev's history (Batou examines his many trophies on the wall). Batou mentions that the whole reason he was interested in coming over was to learn about the prosthetic blindspot and wonders why he didn't use it during that last match. Zaitsev reminisces about that last match (not answering his original question), and explains how all the prosthetic manufacturers and financial backers were nowhere to be seen after that incident. His wife brings some home-made, family drinks and snack for them to have, but Zaitsev gets disappointed in his wife for bringing out something so cheap, and then he decides that they are just going to go out to have drinks.
Right after inviting him, Zaitsev's phone goes off and he goes to the side to have a private conversation for a moment. Talking with the wife, Batou finds that he values the family-oriented way in which she was trying to provide hospitality and mentions that he has a wife and a 6-year-old kid himself. Zaitsev pops back in at that moment and says Batou doesn't seem the type. He then tells him that something has come up and that they'll have their drink another time.
The next day, as Zaitsev is working, he runs in to Batou who's been training in the facility. Zaitsev says he is going to take a coffee break and Batou claims he's off to the showers. Zaitsev moves into an office room where one of his fans goes to fetch something for him. While they're gone, he takes the opportunity to begin hacking into one of the computers in the office, stealing data. Batou meanwhile enters Zaitsev's office and tries to backhack the data live. Zaitsev detects that someone is backhacking is hack somehow though, and increases the time it will take purposefully as he makes his way back to his office, confident that that is where his opponent is. Batou is waiting in the office, trying to finish the backhack. By the time Zaitsev gets inside his office, Batou is gone, without a successful backhack. Zaitsev notifies his superiors of the potential threat and they warn him to be wary of "new faces" which makes him think of Batou.
Zaitsev takes Batou out for a drink, and in the midst of their talking, Zaitsev gets another phone call. He goes out to take the call, but proceeds towards a nearby riverside that turns out to be a drop-off point for some of his data. Batou confronts him, shoots down the people Zaitsev is working for, and enters into a fistfight with Zaitsev, calling him pathetic. Batou defeats him, right when Zaitsev uses his winning "prosthetic blindspot," proving that his winning technique was in fact a fraud, that there is no blindspot, that Batou let him win back at their first meeting. Zaitsev admits that he was the one with the "blindspot in his heart" as he is arrested and the episode closes with Batou beating a punching bag, endlessly criticizing Zaitsev, shouting into the air.
Analysis:
In each of these episodes, we find a group of unique effects that cyberization has had on human relationships. Each case presents a significant lesson to be learned in the involvement of machines with society and the ethics involved in such a revolution.
In episode 13, an entire sub-culture of people grow up hating the very idea of cyberization and for a variety of reasons too. This adds a deep division between those who are approved of cyberization and those who are against it. Is this reason enough to deny the introduction of cyberization into society? Is the power of an idea to sow dissent in humanity reason enough to prevent its entrance into the populace? The Bible holds values of truth and discernment in high regard. It is the duty of humans to, with the help of the Holy Spirit, determine the morality and ethics involved in an action or idea. To borrow from some Enlightenment thought, no minority can be denied a voice by the majority lest a noble and positive idea come from a minority-source and be squashed by the ruling powers.
It is up to Christians, as a members of society, to take an idea, examine it, evaluate it as God would have them, and dictate God's will to the world for the sake of the world's understanding (and potentially following along with the ideas). It is when people begin practicing behaviors that haven't been approved by God and the church, together, (and not just the Catholic church, but the church as it pertains to all Christians in the world collectively) that the potential for sin comes into play.
If people can argue that the introduction of a behavior or principle into society would, by its very nature, have highly detrimental effects on said society, then they have every right to argue for the withdrawal/blocking of such ideas being put into practice; however, it is to be expected that all people will fail to share the same conclusions, and thus politics will get involved in the decision as to whether or not a practice will be adopted by the society. Even among Christians, there will be (and are already) divisions in theology, philosophy, and politics. The best each person can do is trust that, via "[seeking God] with all [their] heart", they will "find [Him]" (Jeremiah 29:13).
Episode 14 tells the story of a man who purposefully arranged his life so that the actions of his existence would continue on automatically through a computer, making money, buying gold, and generally being a recluse. In this sense, despite the fact that he himself hadn't been uploaded into a computer, the machine was still enacting his daily lifestyle just as well as he had done. Could this ever be a good thing? Well, if one were to find a way of designing a machine that would accomplish the beneficial works of God in our world automatically, then yes, that would be a spectacular device. Would that free us to no longer feel obligated to do such good works ourselves? Obviously not, as the machine's actions are not a direct relation to our own spiritual state.
It is a people's own actions and will, together, that culminate in the quality of their spiritual devotion. As John states, faith without works is meaningless. In the same way, arranging for one's works to continue, but without the faith involved, is in no way beneficial to that person's salvation.
Episode 15 demonstrates the power of artificial intelligence and the potential it has to create machines that for whatever reason, spark their own form of personality or individuality. The Tachikoma from the episode, however, does mention the fact that it lacks a ghost to Batou. This implies a self-awareness that is purely artificial. In this way, if it is assumed that the soul isn't merely an artificial construction and actually does exist outside of being a mere concept, humans will still have to decide whether these machines are "alive" or whether they have a digital soul in some way.
Based on the Biblical design, God is the one who breathes life into the creatures of the Earth, therefore humans do not have the power to design life, despite having the ability to give birth to it's physical form. As such, humans will need to re-create their definitions of what it is to be a living being and whether or not humans even have the right to develop creatures that can learn and be self-aware. As humans develop such technologies, they will need to start adjusting to the reality of having robots as "members of society," albeit of a second-tier kind.
Finally, in episode 16, the audience finds Zaitsev who not only switched from a broken famous heavyweight champion lifestyle to a life of espionage and data theft, but also managed to lose himself in the process. While this may not be the wholly the result of cyberization itself, the changed world does provide easier access to behaviors that would seem ignoble to the current society.
With these stories connected, one can see that the civilization formed from the ashes of the cyberized revolution would launch a slew of questions that cannot be readily answered, but require the discipline and focus of society's collective minds to ponder and discern exactly what the right course of action is.
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
Diving, Sense-Sharing, and Exploitation of Gifted Savants (GITS 9-12)
Summary:
Episode 9:
In the aftermath of the attempted assassination of the police superintendent that Section 9 helped to thwart, the general society has had a regenerated interest in the Laughing Man case. In order to pool their resources and potentially discover more information about the Laughing Man incident in general, several members of the populace decide to attend a chat room in which to discuss the case, its several individual incidents, and the significance of the effects it has had on society. Major Kusanagi involves herself as one of the central attendees discussing the case, though she disguises herself with an alternative persona.
One of the first things for the group to suggest is that the person who committed the acts of terrorism in the past and the person responsible for the recent assassination attempt are not the same individual. The basis for this reasoning is that the previous actions of the Laughing Man were relegated to corporate terrorism, and the destruction of businesses he/she thought were immoral and corrupt, but the recent events escalated rather quickly from a public disapproval of the interceptor business at the press conference to a declaration of assassination, a jump that seems uncharacteristic of the previous persona.
Eventually, one of the attendees shares that he had hacked into the assassination event scene at the time it was occurring and he could tell that the people were being manipulated not because of a virus directly affecting them, but because they had previously been manipulated to have wanted to do it. The only people being hacked were the security personnel. On top of that, he had discovered a server registered to Nanao (the one who had been framed as the responsible party for the Laughing Man incident, though only the police new that previously) and found that the server had detailed information regarding corporate terrorist acts. These acts were characterized by the use of the same type of virus utilized in the assassination incident, and yet, the assassination attempt itself wasn't among any of the detailed plans within the server, so it leaves people wondering why he would have suddenly turned murderer. It seems more likely to them that Nanao himself was being manipulated by the initial assassination threat as well, making people begin to wonder who was behind the threat of the superintendent.
At this point, Major Kusanagi hacks into the much more knowledgeable attendee's brain and begins having a private conversation, asking whether or not he has any other information. He reveals that he has a copy of the virus that was used against the police force on that day and he gives it to her. Subsequently, he leaves the chat room and the conversation turns to whether or not the incidents overall are part of a social phenomenon or whether they are in fact connected in some way. That is, they wanted to discover whether there is a link behind the culprits of each incident beyond simply, "They were following along with the ideology of the Laughing Man."
Kusanagi then voices her opinion that the 2 actions involving the kidnapping of a CEO and the threat of the superintendent are the only actions that may have been connected in any way and that it isn't certain whether said perpetrator is even the "original" person that showed up on television. At that moment, the host of the chat room force-transfers Kusanagi to separate room that looks like a library, and when she sees the host and follows him around the corner, she comes face to face with the Laughing Man himself, wearing the same guise that hid his identity from the cameras beforehand.
Then we see the Major driving a sports car with Batou in the passenger seat, and she is irritated because she couldn't "trace it". Then, since Batou was telling a story, he gets irritated that was "diving" the whole time and says he won't repeat himself. The final thought she has is, "Phenomenon created by copycats with no original. Two pieces aren't fitting the puzzle..."
Episode 10:
6 cases of murders have popped up within the local city in which people are killed very slowly, their skin being removed while they are still alive. The team starts to devise profiles for why someone might commit these crimes, but as people begin bringing up cults and/or sex crimes, Batou speaks up and says that he thinks it isn't any of those, but rather a sense of duty (though he doesn't elaborate as to why he thinks this).
Chief Aramaki then explains that they've received files from the American Empire that Mako Amoretti of the American Imperial Navy is likely the killer as he bounced from one from to another in the world war and was discharged at his own request and his whereabouts have been unknown. According to them, he was involved in a case that bears a striking resemblance to the current case.
The CIA has put in a request that they quickly apprehend the individual and then turn him over to them. At this point, two CIA representatives make an appearance at the meeting.
Batou appears to be supremely agitated about the case and it seems that he knows more than he is letting on. Kusanagi notices this and warns Togusa to stop him if he begins to act irrationally during the case. We also see a flashback in which Batou is working in the field somewhere and stumbles upon some people have who been killed in a similar fashion to the current case.
In the midst of a meeting between the American and Japanese representatives, it is reported that the killer has been distributing records of his killings, both from his perspective and from the perspective of the skinned and killed person. Upon hearing about this change of events, the representatives from both parties are shocked and appalled, but Chief Aramaki and Major Kusanagi, both also present at the time, notice that the CIA reps have no reaction to the news, indicating that they were expectant of such behavior.
While Kusanagi distracts one of the CIA members with the most recent footage of the killings (in order to ask him about his thoughts on it), Kusanagi instructs their information expert Ishikawa to break into the CIA records and look up information about Amoretti. In the process, he discovers a report about "Project Sunset" in which American agents purposefully committed atrocities in hostile environments during a war that Batou was involved in (though with a different organization at the time). Amoretti and his associates would move into a village, become friends with the people there, and then murder the women and children in horrific ways. Batou once encountered one of the villages they had visited and was instilled with a rage against whoever had done it.
Batou eventually reveals that it was his job to ascertain the identity of the killers and put a stop to them, so he has a personal vendetta against the killer. After obtaining one of the killer's discs early from a vendor, they are able to ascertain the identity of the newest victim ahead of time and make it to the scene of the crime, saving the victim.
Batou soon sorts out that the killer is distributing the discs in areas connected to an underground sewer system, so he pursues him down there with Togusa in tow. When Togusa realizes that Batou is losing control of himself, he tries to stop him, but Batou runs ahead and Togusa, without the same caliber of cybernetic enhancements to his own body, is unable to reach him. Batou eventually corners Amoretti, but it turns out that Amoretti is only too ready to die, fulfilling his mission to the end (he had become psychotic). Batou unloads his rounds on the guy, but purposefully misses and turns him over because its his job as a policeman, and because he has abandoned the war in his mind, unlike Amoretti.
Turns out him killing Amoretti was always the CIA reps' job as they hadn't even purchased 3 return tickets. Kusanagi comforts Batou by reminding him that at least he saved one of the victims this last time.
Episode 11:
One of the government's health organizations' databases was hacked into by an extremely skilled individual who is likely even better than Major Kusanagi, and the organizations in question haven't released any kind of request for re-obtaining the data stolen. Members of Section 9 were able to trace the hack to a certain building, but beyond that, they know nothing.
The building itself is a government facility in which people (mostly children) who have experienced an illness called Closed Shell Syndrome are cared for. What's more, the circuits in the building are usually kept isolated from external sites, so it would make it virtually impossible for people to enter systems off the campus from within and vice versa. Because there are concerns that the Ministry of Health and Welfare (who owns the facility) is into something dubious, they don't want to let them know Section 9 is gunning for them, so the Chief and the Major instruct Togusa to go in undercover and find out what he can.
Upon arriving, Togusa finds a child being handled aggressively by employees as he cries about how it was "his turn to go online today." Marta, the facilities director, instructs the employees to take the boy away, but the boy presumably hacks into the mens' cyberbrains and overloads their systems. Smoke puffs out of protective headbands the men are wearing and they fall to the ground. The boy dashes to the exit only to be stopped by a fully augmented combat cyborg who renders him unconscious and takes over the task of the other two men. Marta tries to comfort Togusa as a "new recruit" by telling him that the boy is accustomed to normalcy. There is a rule that someone can only connect to an external system under the supervision of a staff member, and they happened to have lost their external connection in a particular room the other day, which made it impossible for the boy to go online, hence, the tantrum.
Marta explains that the people with Closed Shell Syndrome are often pictured as not being compatible with cyberbrain technology, when in fact the issue is more that they are too compatible. They can effortlessly comprehend and manipulate cyberized tech. After too many hours on the net, they will try rigorously not to leave. If diving with someone else, they will attempt to brain dive and share memories and experiences. As they walk through the facility, a group of children stare at a computer screen, muttering to themselves in some kind of unintelligible computer-speak.
Marta then illustrates to Togusa that the company is exploiting the children with especially powerful skills to craft genius-inspired computer-defense barriers that governments will sometimes adopt. She is quite confident that if she left them alone, they would continue to work on building the mazes merely because they enjoy doing so. Togusa is then charged with watching over a particular child who sits in a wheelchair and hardly responds to stimuli, reacting only when someone takes away his left-catcher's baseball glove. Togusa tries to foster some interaction with one of the other kids, one that acts like a bit of a leader for the rest.
Another kid mentions something about a "boss" coming back to the facility soon, and Togusa becomes interested in the news, though he can't seem to find out anything about it from the kids. He reports on all that he has discovered to Kusanagi and the others using a networking room in the facility and realizes that someone else has been using the same room for external access as well.
Soon thereafter, Marta leaves her office as Togusa is passing by...and after she turns the corner, he breaks into the office attempting to find new information. She eventually returns with the combat cyborg and uses him to stop Togusa. He manages to kill the cyborg with a magnum he had hidden, but Marta immediately blunts him over the head with a chair. Marta then links with the unconcious Togusa, discovers he is from Section 9, and then goes unconscious herself from an unknown cause. The wheelchair child who happens to be watching everything from the doorway then stands up.
Back with Kusanagi, one of their androids informs them that every terminal in the facility just went online and discovers that Section 9's surveillance van is being hacked by the facility. The wheelchair child is then shown explaining to the leader kid that he has been discovered from the outside and will have to leave the place since many grown-ups will be flooding the facility in a few moments. We can guess that he is the "boss" that the children were expecting. The leader kid understands that his memories will be wiped along with everyone else, but he simply asks the boss to leave him a clue, something to remember him by someday. The boss agrees and then departs. Togusa is eventually found, taken care of, and later gives a hand-drawn illustration of the boy with the wheelchair since he is sure that he was involved with the incident. When the group looks at the illustration, all they see is a drawing of the Laughing Man's logo, and they all look at Togusa, laughing that he was hacked, but concerned at who the actual culprit was.
Episode 12:
One of the Tachikomas (Batou's) sneaks out of the team's headquarters and goes exploring in the city. It runs into a girl named Miki looking for her pet dog Locky. The Tachikoma agrees to help her look for Locky, ends up "shaking hands" with Miki (and acting confused). The girl then suggests buying some food for Locky, pointing to a vendor, but the Tachikoma tells her it isn't a good idea after seeing a sign by the vendor reading "Cooked Dog" that the girl can't see. After finding another dog that wasn't Locky, the Tachikoma chucks the dog away and is confused when the girl gets upset over "mistreating" the animal.
The Tachikoma then ends up connecting with a detached cyberbrain lying amongst a ghetto vendor's wares out of curiosity, and accidentally brain dives into a numerous cluster of people that are all living inside one cluttered space.
Some policemen show up asking the girl questions about where she came from and what she is doing in such a dangerous place. Seeing that she is feeling uncomfortable, the Tachikoma adopts the voice of Chief Aramaki and pretends to be the girl's father, an aged war veteran who lives within a tank.
The two of them eventually come to the place where the girl thinks the dog will be, but it turns out to be a graveyard, and the reality is that the dog has already been dead for a while and the girl simply doesn't want people to know that she understands the dog is dead. She didn't want people to be worried about her feelings. The Tachikoma ends up having to confront the notion of death and understand its significance to Miki.
Back at headquarters, the team is conducting an analysis of the Tachikoma that got out and find that the reason it was behaving strangely was because it was being given natural oil that mixed with the hardware incorrectly such that components that stored memory were slipping into the oil and moving to different locations than they should have been. It was only because Batou uses that one Tachikoma exclusively.
After Togusa makes a comment about Batou treating them like pets, he gives him some grief about it, referring to them as "just machines" at which point all of the other Tachikoma spark up and express irritation from the statement, saying things like, "That's a discriminatory remark!" Togusa then discovers the detached cyberbrain that the Tachikoma took from the street vendor.
Later on, one of the team members has dived into the cyberbrain, but isn't coming out and isn't communicating with the team at all, but all of the group's tests leave them unable to discern any kind of attack pattern originating from the brain. The Major decides to go in (in opposition to her teammates' disapproval) and something goes wrong soon afterward, her "ghost" leaving her body and getting pulled into the device.
Upon looking around the simulated environment, she finds that there is a large crowd of people, including the unresponsive team member, who are navigating a series of corridors that move through and around a large theater room. The Major follows her team member into the movie, and the guy says to her, "Oh, hi Major. Nice to see you. This is a mind-blowing movie." Then Major Kusanagi looks at the film and tears start streaming down her face as she stares, transfixed.
She exits the theater and has a conversation with the man running the show, informing him that, contrary to his opinion of the film, a movie that has no beginning, no end, and merely evokes a sense of pure joy isn't a "real" experience and is merely a distraction from reality. She tells him that he should stop producing the film and let all of the people who are "trapped" within the cyberbrain go. The man argues that for some of the people watching the film, "misery will be waiting for them the instant they go back to reality." When he asks whether she is willing to accept responsibility for depriving these people of their dreams, she denies it, but replies that dreams are "meaningful when you work toward them in the real world. If you merely live within the dreams of other people, it's no different from being dead."
After leaving the cyberbrain, Ishikawa informs Kusanagi and Batou that the original director could never get people to faithfully generate his desired pieces, and that the ones that did get produced were never mainstream films, though they did develop cult followings. Eventually he holed himself up into the box, and, along with several other copies of the original, people would plug themselves in and stay inside until their bodies withered away. Police had been trying to search for these boxes for years, and Section 9 had just stumbled onto the original. They decide to put the director into a different cyberbrain box that can't go online (so it doesn't spread like it did before). Then they compile a list of people who regain consciousness as a result. Finally, the group is to arrest the vendor selling the box on suspicion of human trafficking.
Analysis:
One of the central elements the audience is exposed to in these episodes is the concept of "diving", the total immersion of one's consciousness into a digital environment. The mere concept seems like it would be an extremely efficient model for improving communication between people seeing as how people can achieve all of the same interpersonal communication that a person would otherwise experience in real life. The senses could be stimulated the same way they would be in the real world (possibly), and yet, we also have a hint that the process itself may not be as immersive as literally being two places at once (since Major Kusanagi feels at ease diving while driving in a sparse section of the highway - much like how people nowadays feel comfortable talking or texting using their cellphones while driving). That's not to make any judgments concerning whether such things should be legal, but merely that necessary comparisons must be drawn between one activity and the other. If cellphone use is permitted while in the middle of potentially hazardous activity (like driving), then more consideration must be given to the similar process of diving.
A significant difference in diving, however, lies in that it occupies much more of one's stimuli than any phone possibly could. For one thing, the combination of both sound and visual stimuli is more taxing on one's concentration compared to just talking (sound) or texting (visual). There is already a large amount of controversy surrounding texting with a phone, so it is obvious that visual attention is of the upmost importance when operating a motor vehicle. Another significant difference is that diving implies a full-body transition-experience. The visuals and sounds aren't coming from a localized device (where the sensory source is confined to a particular area), but rather, the stimuli can come from any direction, increasing the chance that the brain would be distracted much more intensely.
In this way, diving itself can become a more powerful method of escapist entertainment. Movies, video games, music videos, and media in general could be adapted for the full-digital environment, capable of immersing people ever more strongly into the world of the story. News broadcasts could potentially let you "experience" the news "live" by placing you in a recorded setting obtained by one of their "journalists".
The potential danger of this technology is outlined quite clearly in episode 12, when the people are drawn in to a film that never stops satisfying their insatiable desire for stimuli. If people forget to live in the real world, or if they similarly begin to believe that the fictional world is in fact a reality, then their efforts are being focused on people who lack souls or experiences that lack direct relevance to those people. It should be noted that fictional stories in media can only be of use when their content embodies a paradigm people can relate to or symbolism that people can connect to experiences they understand. If the content is never tied back to the real world in such a way as to ensure its productive usage, then the practical value of that content is "zeroed out". This danger is obviously relevant to Christians because Jesus instructs us to love people (second greatest commandment) and to bring God's love to them in the hope that they will turn towards Jesus (great commission).
In essence, diving as a general concept should be given the same type of caution that movies and other media provide, although the potency of diving in comparison shouldn't be ignored either, so people would need to keep in mind the dangerous power of the tools they are using. Granted, because of the extent of their power, they can also be used to simulate settings and stories that are favorable to Christianity in which case diving could be a highly influential evangelism technique.
(Note: with the rise of the Oculus Rift and accompanying technologies, the potential for a similar level of immersion occurring in our lifetime shouldn't be overlooked. Immersive media environments are extremely relevant to today's society)
Brain diving as a unique form of diving is something entirely different from the Christian perspective. Using this technology, the consciousness of individuals could potentially merge, fusing into a single consciousness that shares memories, personalities, and experiences in real-time. The question of how this affects God's judgment of one's morality needs to be broken up into three divisive scenarios: one in which the consciousnesses have this interaction and yet retain their individuality, one in which the identities are partially exchanged and another in which the two have truly fused, losing track of their sense of self.
When consciousnesses are separate, yet merged, the most important factor is the extent to which the two (or more) are sharing memories/experiences. Therefore, we'll be starting with the second case. Is it possible for the participants to get the owner of memories/experiences mixed up? If so, are they at least able to determine which ones are definitively their own? The reason it's important is this: say a person ends up with memories of wrongdoing that are not their own. Would that person be morally responsible for actions that they believed they had done, even if they were the actions of another? God, and most of society I suspect, would say otherwise. A person isn't to blame for a crime if they did not in fact commit it. In the same way, however, people who have committed crimes, but forget that they have because of the meshing process are still morally liable for those crimes in the same way that courts would still hold them responsible. The fact of the matter is, involving oneself in brain diving is an act that implies an understanding of these risks on the part of the participants. Therefore, people surrender their right to claim innocence in such cases because they knowingly endangered the integrity of their minds. In this sense, brain diving is akin to taking drugs or alcohol that can have detrimental, permanent effects on the brain, depending on the situation. The Bible clearly emphasizes that consuming alcohol to the point of damaging one's judgment is sinful in and of itself because of the irresponsible nature of the activity. This same moral claim applies to this form of brain diving.
What about when there is no risk of mixing one's identity with the other (the first case)? Can we still consider brain diving moral? Brain diving in this sense would be an extremely potent form of communication more akin to sense-sharing (which has already been covered previously) and the general concept of diving already addressed in this post. Brain diving of this kind involves communicating personal information directly via a person's sensory inputs (diving) and the information transmitted belongs to other people (sense-sharing). However, one element of difference is the intimacy with which brain diving has the potential to connect people. Brain diving allows people to see each other completely naked, in the fullest sense of the word. Physically, mentally, emotionally, socially, and spiritually, the process allows someone complete access to another's very being. This type of intimacy is far more powerful than any kind of sexual act because it implies an intimate knowledge of sexual acts and much more on top of that. Sexual experiences are meant to be precious according to the Bible because of the shear degree to which it links people. When that connection is amplified, the effect is far more potent, and therefore should be regarded with even more care. Note that all of these comments hinge on the assumption that people will have no control over what it is that is shared, that the memories/experiences are shared almost instantaneously without regard to the will of the participants. If people have control over what is exchanged then brain diving itself becomes a glorified version of diving and sense-sharing combined together as mentioned before.
For the third case in which people's consciousnesses truly fuse together, we need to determine what status will be attributed to the souls of the individuals involved. Do the souls seem to fuse together? Do the people essentially "die" as a new person is "born" from the convoluted mass of memories and experiences? Or is it that the souls of the individuals still exist separately somehow, despite having a mixed consciousness? Well, we obviously wouldn't be able to determine whether the third situation was even occurring in the first place. If on the other hand we were in the first situation with fused souls - fused consciousnesses - then whatever past the individuals WERE accountable for they are now TOGETHER accountable for. The good and the bad of the one becomes the same for the other. However, if the people's sense of self literally "died", then the new person that sprung from the ashes would be a wholly new life, albeit one born of immoral destruction. So, either Christians would need to consider such brain dives to be sinful due to their termination of a person (digital-mesh suicide), or Christians would need to view the emerging consciousness as a joint party or organization since the activities of the one would be a reflection of the will of the whole.
When the children are then exploited by the government for their digital prowess in episode 11, we can categorize such behavior as someone with power (a functional mind) taking advantage of someone weaker (a damaged mind) which appears in contrast to numerous Biblical contexts that justify and protect the weak in the wake of the powerful, so we can assume that is immoral. But is it wrong for a society en masse to make use of digital prowess to such a degree that "gifted" individuals are reduced to machines, tools, or programs themselves? If the human element is forgotten, then the spirit of the "gifted" person is ruined. If, however, the person fails to make use of their abilities for the sake of others, they could potentially be similarly regarded as a person with a degraded spirit because they wouldn't be following up on God's desire for them to love and work for the glory of God and His people. Cyberization in general is simply an exaggeration of already-in-progress behaviors and social models that - when misused - prove their danger to God's work. Embedded to much in a fictional world = idolatry, laziness, and selfishness. Caring more for the work than for the people and the world that God created = idolatry.
In connecting these episodes, the common thread of cyberized interactions and their social parameters carve out the additional themes to be addressed. Diving is a powerful new communication device with all the ramifications of today's society and more. Cyberization - and the new types of interactions that go with it - will maintain this trend. The defining outlier Brain Diving stands out as a core, multi-faceted element of the GITS world, one which requires a significant amount of analysis into the nature, structure, and effects it would have in order to determine its corresponding ethical definition.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)