Cyborg Theory, Class #1

[replicarter.livejournal.com]

*closes the door and the windows and turns on the powerpoint*

Introduction to Cyborg Theory – Class #1



barefoot_tahiri
bent_bender
can_be_more
carter_i_am
cerulean__eyes
chief_tyrol
cyloninyourhead
emo_padawan
kawalsky
leeadama
magitekboy
pyramid_is_life
radekzelenka
sharon_valerii
sogothcally
sparkplugfelix
thehurleyabides
valentine_tart
whitedeathpod

Note to students: If you are playing multiple characters and are enrolled, therefore, twice in the class because you love me OMG!, please think this through a bit as the homework will therefore be doubled with you. You can, however, crash the class if the discussion is getting interesting and you want to add another characters perspective.





There will be no lecture today as it’s our first class. I would like everyone to do the following:

1) Introduce yourselves to the class by saying your name, fandom, and something really interesting about yourself.

2) If you are cybernetic, artificial intelligence, a robot, or a human-form robot of any variety, please state this at this time. If you are unaware of your synthetic state, please see me after class.

3) Introduce yourself to a student in the class that you haven’t met yet or haven’t had the chance to have a conversation with yet. I’d like my students to get to know one another.

If you need a discussion topic outside general small talk, please discuss the issues of humanity creating machines to bear the brunt of hard labor and what this does to the blue collar human workforce.


For homework, and I wish to have this by Wednesday in my inbox, I would like you to research on the internet for a recent news article on cybernetics, artificial intelligence, or something to that effect and send me the link to the article. We will be discussing these articles next Monday.

Now. Get to it. *smiles kindly*

Comments

[carter-i-am.livejournal.com]

Pleased to meet you, Felix.

Not yet. Other people, yes. Buildings. I once blew up a sun, but we don't talk about that.

What brings you to Cyborg Theory, then?

[sparkplugfelix.livejournal.com]

Buildings? ::blinks, mutters:: Definitely trumps the lawnmower.

It looked like an interesting class-- ::pauses, and looks between the professor and Sam, but decides not to comment:: --and the teacher seemed nice. How about you?

[carter-i-am.livejournal.com]

Don't ask about the buildings. Although I'm curious about the lawnmower. How, why, when, and where - and how much trouble did you get into for it?

Well, I have some experience interest in cyborgs, artificial intelligence, and that kind of thing. So I figured it was a good chance to get to know the enemy learn as much as I could about it.

[sparkplugfelix.livejournal.com]

All right. With something my best friend cooked up in chem lab. It was an experiment in pyrotechnics for the school play, last year (this was after the flashpowder incident), and the school gym. ::winces:: We had to do all the gardening for six months to pay for the damage.

Interesting. I've always had a vague interest in the Cylons, I suppose this would apply to them. ::thoughtful look::

[carter-i-am.livejournal.com]

Wow. Sounds like it was fun! (Except for the detention bit.)

Cylons?

[sparkplugfelix.livejournal.com]

It was. ::grins::

They're robots, we created and built them as menials, slaves. Then the military decided they'd make the perfect troops: non-human cannon-fodder. ::pauses:: They rebelled. The Cylon War lasted nearly ten years before they suddenly just stopped. And you have a good point. Maybe I can learn more about them, here.

[carter-i-am.livejournal.com]

So...you up for blowing up a few more things here?

Ah. Then you'd have some definite insights into the whole machines-taking-human jobs. Although the Cylon war sounds a little more detailed than that.

We haven't reached the point of developing drones for our military. Yet. I know they're prototyping machine soldiers, but they're more like remote-control tanks than anything else. Is that how you started?