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Post by torainfor on Aug 19, 2008 9:21:05 GMT -5
Anyone else familiar with The Ship Who Sang? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ship_Who_SangIn the future, terribly deformed babies with great intelligence are developed into "shell people." They're basically a brain in a box, but they're trained to control a piece of machinery. Most of the series deals with space ships, but one ( The City Who Fought is about a man who controls the systems in a highly-automated city. |
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Post by Spokane Flyboy on Aug 19, 2008 10:57:04 GMT -5
What...are these...thoughts coming into my mind? Are they...mine or from somewhere...else? And why...do I have an insatiable hunger for cheese? You forgot the exaggerated body gesturing, Shattner. ;D |
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Post by Jeff Gerke on Aug 19, 2008 20:09:54 GMT -5
LOL.
I didn't mean to be ol' Bill, but it definitely reads better in his voice.
Jeff
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Post by Teskas on Aug 19, 2008 21:23:16 GMT -5
Be careful, boys. This is one keen Original Trek fan you've got reading your posts. William Shatner's elliptical pause transformed more than one execrable line of script into passable dialog, and until the Twinkie Troll got him, he was more than easy on the female eye. Play nice.  |
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Post by Spokane Flyboy on Aug 19, 2008 21:34:21 GMT -5
*snickers* That.. was far... beyond... my time. You... mean he was... actually... a heart throb at... one time?
And back on topic. The genetic-altering/designer-babies thing is something I'm used to the roleplay setting I played in. We had a race called Specialists that were genetically-engineered, mass-produced clones that were quite adept at their tasks, but the year of intensive training for those tasks left them without much of a will of their own. Basically a race of genetically-perfect, abused children. Then the race my character is also tinkered with their genetics, but it was rarely done beyond the embryo stage since it was cheaper and more effective. Afterbirth, it was deemed that it would require many doses of retro-viruses to achieve an effect as your immune system would fight it off. Transplanting cells, though, would be an interesting take on it and possibly easier.
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Post by Jeff Gerke on Aug 20, 2008 7:37:47 GMT -5
In Shatner's defense, he was brilliant in his role. I recently re-watched the first season of the original Star Trek series and his alleged overacting is no more or less than many of the other actors of the day. It was the style: the suave lover and man of action. Plus, he needed to be a contrast to Nimoy's Spock. He was the epitome of that generation's view of the perfect hero.
I think he's made the transition to modern acting quite well, finally. He even pokes fun at the old style occasionally (Over the Hedge, anyone?). I understood that he wasn't always a nice person, even back in the day, and I read that it wasn't until the last year or so that he discovered that some of his fellow cast members really did despise him as much as GalaxyQuest portrays.
He was the perfect man for the job. If he hadn't been the best at that kind of acting style, they would've gotten someone else to do it. Indeed, they tried someone else first (the man who played Christopher Pike) but he didn't do it for the audience. Shatner did.
He's a victim of his own success. His portrayal of Kirk was so iconic that it has remained constant despite the fact that the acting style changed around him.
It would be like someone building a marvelous statue that everyone praises for years, but then tastes change and later generations point and laugh at the same statue.
Jeff
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Post by rwley on Aug 20, 2008 8:21:29 GMT -5
I remember watching it despite the fact that my mom didn't think it was going to be such a good thing for her little girl. I, too, thought Shatner was, well, let's just say my little heart went pitter-patter during every show! The kids in my neighborhood were all big Star Trek fans and we'd play it out. What days! We didn't need a Star Trek video game, we made our own live version; the hill down the street was the Klingon Empire!
The acting, yes, over done but as Jeff says it was very much the style then. Most of the tops shows that were out during that time were overdone in one way or another.
Anybody remember Time Tunnel? The Man from U.N.C.L.E.? And just look at the orginal Batman with Adam West and Burt Ward; "Holy Method-Acting Batman!"
Ah how quickly we have gotten away from the topic at hand . . .
back to rat brains . . .
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Therin
Junior Member
Forward the frontier.
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Post by Therin on Aug 21, 2008 1:58:29 GMT -5
What about the opposite of an organic brain in a robot, a computer in an organic? That's even scarier! It looks human, but it's all logic and programming. And then it could be hacked into and controlled, so a terrorist could sabotage something without even being there.
[Shudders]
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Post by Teskas on Aug 21, 2008 5:58:29 GMT -5
They're already doing that. There have been preliminary experiments on fighter pilots where they are wired up. All they do is think that they want to bank to the left or right, and the simulator they are in responds by banking left or right.
Welcome to the future.
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Post by Jeff Gerke on Aug 21, 2008 7:41:21 GMT -5
Ooh, cool thought, Therin.
How about a war between the two? With humans caught in the middle.
In Israel's history, various Jewish leaders sometimes made alliances with foreign powers so that the foreign powers would bring their armies to crush the Jewish leader's (usually Jewish) rivals. The problem was that when the foreign powers came to help, they wouldn't leave. Nor would they leave the Jewish leader in power, at least not as he expected.
What if one of these organic/cybernetic groups is getting too strong, so the humans enlist the opposite group to help--except the plan works too well...
Jeff
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Post by mongoose on Aug 21, 2008 18:16:12 GMT -5
"We don't know who started the war. But we do know that it was we who scorched the sky."
Morpheous in "The Matrix"
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Therin
Junior Member
Forward the frontier.
Posts: 99
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Post by Therin on Aug 21, 2008 22:44:23 GMT -5
How about "Whoever wins, we lose"?
--Alien vs. Predator (or at least it's advertising)--
So if there were robots with human brains and humans with robot brains... that'd be total chaos.
I think the organic-brained robots would have emotions (since they have a human-like brain), so I guess they might be persuaded to help us out from pity or something. But the computer-brains would be all logic and programming. While we might be able to hack them and redirect their motives, they would not show pity to anyone.
I've got the computer-brained humans in my technothriller, but they're usually controlled remotely via virtual reality. But if somehow their computer codes got corrupted or modified... they could possibly revolt against everyone. Kind of like some robots in my sci-fi.
Incidentally, do you think a demon could reprogram a robot or even possess it?
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Post by torainfor on Aug 21, 2008 23:28:30 GMT -5
That would be interesting--take the latest incarnation of the Cylons and put them up against androids controlled by human brains locked away in a impenetrable fortress. Then drop in wet-ware humans--who would you align with?
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Post by Jeff Gerke on Aug 22, 2008 7:45:15 GMT -5
Therin, as to your last question, be sure you check out The Personifid Invasion, one of the three novels Marcher Lord Press is launching with. www.marcherlordpress.comThe idea of computer-brained humans vs. human-brained robots is cool. I like the idea that someone who looks just like us would be a cold-hearted killer and someone who looks nothing at all like us (like an appliance or set of gears and pulleys) would be utterly human. Very fun SF idea. Jeff |
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Post by mongoose on Aug 22, 2008 14:55:07 GMT -5
The Terminators
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