Happened to watch the first 3 episodes of Raised by Wolves¹. I was expecting just an episode to get launched in the typical HBO fashion. But getting 3 episodes was a bonus. Though I would have preferred to just have one. It would have given enough time to think about the episode and read articles about it till the next one came.

This is probably the ‘best of times’ for the sci-fi genre as a whole. I’m looking forward to the next seasons of His Dark Materials² and The Expanse³. The trailer for the Foundation⁴ series on Apple TV was awesome though I wish it were available on Prime. Also, expecting Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time⁵ to be engaging and thought-provoking. Not sure if the LOTR⁶ TV series could better Peter Jackson’s movies, but it would be interesting to see. I wish there were more seasons of The Man in the High Castle⁷. Can’t believe that they are thinking of rebooting Battlestar Galactica⁸. There is also Dune movie⁹ and TV series¹⁰ on the horizon with the promise that it would be better now than all the adaptations in the past. There are many more than what someone could hope to watch. I think there is something for every science buff out there. A time of abundance indeed.

I was impressed by ‘Raised by Wolves’. I’ve liked other sci-fi movies by Ridley Scott - Alien¹¹, Prometheus¹², etc. The tech is always impressive and one is hopeful for the better future that is in store for us. But while the earlier movies had life of earth as peaceful and humans exploring distant places on the universe, this one is about humans being forced to evacuate due to strife on earth.

It aligns with the current divided world that we’re living in. I think, just a couple of decades ago, the majority of people were optimistic about technology and the future in general. But now, the clock seems to have dialed back to world war times. Issues like religious intolerance and racism which were solved 50 years ago or before, are in the forefront. Social media seems to have given power to the fringe elements than the average person.

The backdrop of ‘Raised by Wolves’ is that humanity is fighting against each other and is on the brink of extinction. What are they fighting about? Religion of course. The atheists manage to send a small spacecraft with a couple of androids and 12 embryos to Kepler-22b, a habitable planet that is about 60 light-years from the earth. The believers of the Mithraic cult send an ark with around 1000 people to the same destination. The show starts with a nuclear explosion on earth being seen far away from the first spacecraft, which implies that earth is destroyed.

The belief that people will destroy earth, seems to be a foregone conclusion by a lot of thinking people. It is so sad to even think of it. My view is that no one should possess any weapon that could destroy the whole earth. But the invention cannot be undone. Humanity as a whole is immature, and now the children have big toys to wipe everything out.

The idealists think that a small group can run away and build a new civilization without the bigotry and narrow mindedness. The androids in RBW believe the same. They think that they could give humanity a reboot by starting afresh with 12 embryos on a new planet. But that has been tried so many times on earth itself. Wherever humans go, trouble follows sooner than later.

I think the better bet would be to just send androids to a new planet to colonize. i.e, when AI becomes more mature. If AI reaches the 2nd level (AGI - Artificial General Intelligence) as mentioned in this Wait buy why¹³ article, then they may be able to independently create robots and androids.

But even if just androids are sent to a new planet, say Mars, they are going with morality that is being put into them by humans. Depending on which country or culture they are sent from, they could be biased. If bias by smart and efficient people on earth is so disadvantageous to the marginalized, then bias from things that are multiple times smarter would be catastrophic.

If AGI gets being created by consuming all the digital material available today, then we’re already on the wrong path. In the last 10 years alone with the explosion of social media, so much of junk has been put on the digital world that they don’t represent the best of humanity at all.

I think the Plan B of going out of earth should not be a solution. People need to get ahead of the fundamental differences that exist.

It has been proven over and again that monarchy, fascism, communism, or any ideology that divides people is not a solution. Bigotry and hatred can only lead to destruction. Getting a better understanding and believing that humanity is one species and every person is 99.9% similar to other, is the key. Yes, a positive and generous worldview.

As mentioned in 21 lessons for 21st century¹⁴, secularism is a positive and active worldview. It is not opposed to religion. Secularism views morality and wisdom as the natural legacy of all humans, not something handed down from God to a specific set of humans at a point in time.

The Secular Ideals -

1. Commitment to truth
2. Compassion
3. Commitment to equality
4. Cherish Responsibility

Another aspect of films like Alien or Prometheus or TV series like The Expanse, that I like, is the belief that there is life out there. The universe is so vast. Though the probability of conditions to create life is so tiny, the universe is so vast that the probability is quite real.

Plan B¹⁵ is a reference to Elon Musk saying couple of years back that humanity needs to have a Plan B, of either setting up a colony in the Moon or Mars, in case of World War III.

Image Credit - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kepler-22_diagram.jpg

References