At what point is technology too much? It seems inevitable that technology will not just be extensions of our bodies but gradually internalised too, literally. The movie ‘Vexille’ tells of the future, when the Japanese government and its leading corporation asks its people to take a vaccine, which secretly infects them with a gene-altering virus that converts their cells to bio-metal. Humans then become androids, seen by their makers to be nearing the peak of human evolution – when they no longer need food or sleep, when they become increasingly ‘matchless in intellect and stability of emotion’. Is this ‘immortalisation’ of the human race or the cementing of its end? When humans become more robotic, they become less sentient. Will the increasing mechanisation of the world save or destroy us all? With the androids’ flesh being more metallic than human, and red blood transformed into black oil, I wondered what makes us truly human…
Surely, it is not just flesh and blood. What makes us human are the non-physical virtues and defilements we consciously choose to live with. In the world of Vexille, it’s survival of the fittest – those who are able to adapt to the virus. Surely, the creation of such a cruel life-cheapening virus already spells the end of humanity – at least that within the creators. The ultimate measure of humanity must be one’s ability to sacrifice for others; versus the opposite quality of inhumanity – being one’s self-centred willingness to sacrifice others for oneself. One who has mechanically high intellect and stability of emotion might as well be a super-machine, while it is great wisdom and compassion that is truly matchless. It turned out that the key villain behind the virus was (still) a human, who did not inject himself with the virus yet – due to clear knowledge that it has yet to be ‘perfected’. Yet, despite the red blood he bled, his humanity was already lost.
Related Article:
Terminators ‘R’ Us?
https://moonpointer.com/new/2009/06/terminators-%e2%80%98r%e2%80%99-us
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