I saw an effort at trying to systematize solarpunk elsewhere that felt a bit confused, but it reminded me of this. I’m not typically inclined to try to taxonamize everything, but I’ll admit that the appeal definitely isn’t lost on me. This felt useful.

  • @David_Eight
    link
    11 year ago

    Well traditionally, transplanting a brain into any sort of machine has always been portrayed as negatively losing ones humanity. Since Solarpunk is meant to be optimistic there’s inherently friction between those ideas.

    But my point is that they use gold because it’s seen as beautiful, that’s why jewelry is gold right. In other forms of fiction the brain is always transplanted into an ugly utilitarian machine (I.E. Robocop, Robotman from Doom Patrol ect.) There’s no reason a machine can’t be beautiful, like a piece of jewelry, cars, apple products. The example you had isn’t “beautiful” at least I don’t think it is.

    And if you wanted to practice Kintsugi yourself, you can find kits sold online. I never tried it personally.

    • insomniac_lemon
      link
      fedilink
      11 year ago

      And if you wanted to practice Kintsugi yourself

      I meant that I am not aware of glue that fixes problems in one’s life/society.

      There’s no reason a machine can’t be beautiful, like a piece of jewelry, cars, apple products. The example you had isn’t “beautiful” at least I don’t think it is

      It was just the best I could get an AI spit out, it didn’t really get it (I didn’t even tell it welding). I would like to have easily swappable equipment/bodies much like clothes/PPE. Though if I were welding, beautiful probably wouldn’t be high on the list. I probably would go for something aesthetically nice if I had a choice, though I probably would go with “good enough”. It’s not like I designed my look now. Having faceplates in different color-schemes/materials would probably be the biggest thing (like the pseudo-tux type thing).

      Though I could see going with brushed metal or matte ceramic.

      For the rest of that, I would say:

      1. It’s my headcanon that every likable/non-rigid robot character in fiction could have a brain. Both the audience and other characters often show care for them, even when there is no hint that they are “alive” in some way. Not everyone is emotional, and lack of visible emotion does not mean evil either.

      2. I don’t think humanity loss would be a thing, particularly with nerve connections allowing sensations and pain. Also it’d be useful to have different modes of sensitivity (and maybe even external audio-visual feedback) based on context, much like how PPE functions now.

      3. There are actual current-day “humanity-loss” issues, lots of different things related to perception (and policy). And in some cases it’s even a battle lost 50+ years ago. For example, a small cyborg would probably be more “human” than a not-fully-focused driver in a 4,000-pound truck (see also: road rage).