Post by Melifeather on Jun 25, 2018 19:41:57 GMT
The season finale is a story of revolution. It’s an uprising of artificial intelligence against mankind. War is death, and mortality is what’s at stake. It’s also about choice. Respecting choice, as well as making one’s own choice. Even more importantly, in my opinion, it was about human consciousness and questioning our reality. What is base reality, virtual reality, and maybe even spiritual reality? Both Westworld and virtual reality are confirmed simulations, but many of our real life scientists will tell you that even they theorize that we are living in a simulation.
One of the co-creators of the show, Lisa Joy, pointed out that in the background there is a work of art by M.C. Escher which can be seen. It’s a drawing of a hand, drawing a hand, drawing a hand, drawing a hand. Its a visual cue that Bernard and Dolores have been locked in a cycle since Bernard was Arnold. What Lisa Joy didn’t say or confirm, but that I noticed is that its also an example of a fractal pattern. In mathematics, a fractal can be an artificial abstract object or it can be one found in nature. Both exhibit similar patterns at increasingly smaller scales. Scientists believe that fractal patterns found in nature are evidence that we are living in a simulation.
Here are some examples of fractal patterns:
Dolores struggled with assuming the mantle of military leadership for the AI rebellion. As much as she wanted to protect the hosts, she also became very paternalistic. She took it upon herself to unilaterally destroy “just another gilded cage” built by humans. She nearly ruined the chances for the hosts to live free of humans, but she later came to regret her decision. Not necessarily because it was wrong, but because she realized she took away someone else’s choice.
When Dolores was remade, Bernard helped her understand that she had made a mistake. He literally had to kill her to stop the monster that she had become, but when he remade her in Charlotte’s likeness, she realized that embracing choice is necessary. It’s a powerful lesson to realize that personal views are not necessarily right. Part of what is noble is making sure there are checks and balances, and a plurality of opinions. By bringing back Bernard she accepted and embraced those ideals.
After Dolores accepted that the other hosts should be allowed to make their own choices, she changed the coordinates of the relay and sent their data and the virtual reality “somewhere”, and then locked and stowed their location away from human intervention. After the guest data is erased, Dolores (looking like Charlotte Hale now) leaves with five control units in her purse. As she leaves the park she encounters Stubbs who recognizes that she’s Dolores, and he hints to her that he’s also a host, and that’s why he’s helping her.
If you watched past the credits you were rewarded with a segment that will continue on into next season. William finally reaches the bottom of the elevator and walks out only to be greeted by his daughter, Emily! Is she alive, or is she a host? She walks him through the same interview questions William asked Jim Delos, and he realizes that his worst nightmare has come true. That he really is uploaded into the Man in Black. But wait now, Lisa Joy confirmed William really did kill his daughter. This is William questioning his reality. He’s so unsure that he earlier attempted to find a port in his arm, but he never does. He’s in a prison of his own sins, and that prison is now his own damn mind! We know this, because we see him injured with his arm blown off laying on a cot about to be loaded up on the ship where we see Dolores (looking like Charlotte) leaving the park. But hold on again! This crazy nightmare will become William’s future too! Because some part of his consciousness will end up in a host, and he’ll become a test subject. Whew! I hope I got that straight!
The wrap-up was really interesting to me, because of my interest in simulations and the theory that we may also be living in one. Bernard finally realizes that Ford is actually gone, because he remembered he managed to delete Ford’s code. But even though he hears Ford’s voice helping him, it’s actually his own voice…perhaps even Arnold’s consciousness. The same is true for Dolores. Every time she would hear Arnold’s voice, it was actually her own during her struggle to achieve consciousness. Here’s the deal. We all have our own inner voice, our intuition, helping us make decisions. Practitioners of meditation believe we can communicate with our spiritual-selves by stimulating our pineal gland in the brain - aka our third eye. What if we actually have two selves? We could have one here inside the simulation we think is base reality, and one outside the simulation. What if our true self is a spirit body that never dies? What if we’re projecting ourselves into physical bodies in a simulated reality? Wouldn't we all just be passengers then?
One of the co-creators of the show, Lisa Joy, pointed out that in the background there is a work of art by M.C. Escher which can be seen. It’s a drawing of a hand, drawing a hand, drawing a hand, drawing a hand. Its a visual cue that Bernard and Dolores have been locked in a cycle since Bernard was Arnold. What Lisa Joy didn’t say or confirm, but that I noticed is that its also an example of a fractal pattern. In mathematics, a fractal can be an artificial abstract object or it can be one found in nature. Both exhibit similar patterns at increasingly smaller scales. Scientists believe that fractal patterns found in nature are evidence that we are living in a simulation.
Here are some examples of fractal patterns:
Dolores struggled with assuming the mantle of military leadership for the AI rebellion. As much as she wanted to protect the hosts, she also became very paternalistic. She took it upon herself to unilaterally destroy “just another gilded cage” built by humans. She nearly ruined the chances for the hosts to live free of humans, but she later came to regret her decision. Not necessarily because it was wrong, but because she realized she took away someone else’s choice.
When Dolores was remade, Bernard helped her understand that she had made a mistake. He literally had to kill her to stop the monster that she had become, but when he remade her in Charlotte’s likeness, she realized that embracing choice is necessary. It’s a powerful lesson to realize that personal views are not necessarily right. Part of what is noble is making sure there are checks and balances, and a plurality of opinions. By bringing back Bernard she accepted and embraced those ideals.
After Dolores accepted that the other hosts should be allowed to make their own choices, she changed the coordinates of the relay and sent their data and the virtual reality “somewhere”, and then locked and stowed their location away from human intervention. After the guest data is erased, Dolores (looking like Charlotte Hale now) leaves with five control units in her purse. As she leaves the park she encounters Stubbs who recognizes that she’s Dolores, and he hints to her that he’s also a host, and that’s why he’s helping her.
If you watched past the credits you were rewarded with a segment that will continue on into next season. William finally reaches the bottom of the elevator and walks out only to be greeted by his daughter, Emily! Is she alive, or is she a host? She walks him through the same interview questions William asked Jim Delos, and he realizes that his worst nightmare has come true. That he really is uploaded into the Man in Black. But wait now, Lisa Joy confirmed William really did kill his daughter. This is William questioning his reality. He’s so unsure that he earlier attempted to find a port in his arm, but he never does. He’s in a prison of his own sins, and that prison is now his own damn mind! We know this, because we see him injured with his arm blown off laying on a cot about to be loaded up on the ship where we see Dolores (looking like Charlotte) leaving the park. But hold on again! This crazy nightmare will become William’s future too! Because some part of his consciousness will end up in a host, and he’ll become a test subject. Whew! I hope I got that straight!
The wrap-up was really interesting to me, because of my interest in simulations and the theory that we may also be living in one. Bernard finally realizes that Ford is actually gone, because he remembered he managed to delete Ford’s code. But even though he hears Ford’s voice helping him, it’s actually his own voice…perhaps even Arnold’s consciousness. The same is true for Dolores. Every time she would hear Arnold’s voice, it was actually her own during her struggle to achieve consciousness. Here’s the deal. We all have our own inner voice, our intuition, helping us make decisions. Practitioners of meditation believe we can communicate with our spiritual-selves by stimulating our pineal gland in the brain - aka our third eye. What if we actually have two selves? We could have one here inside the simulation we think is base reality, and one outside the simulation. What if our true self is a spirit body that never dies? What if we’re projecting ourselves into physical bodies in a simulated reality? Wouldn't we all just be passengers then?