“The first thinking machine or anthropoid robot will be far more human-like than any pet dog or workhorse. It will [feel] natural to address such a machine as ‘you’ and unnatural to smash it to bits with a sledgehammer. … [Yet] how could we possibly have moral duties to a robot or a thinking machine any more than we do to a toaster?” (The Jewish sages have an answer.)
Tag: 07.30.10
In the Depths of J.G. Ballard’s Archives
“The late JG Ballard’s archive now occupies a stack of bland cardboard boxes in the basement of the British Library, a warren of strip-lit shelves beneath the vast irregular plaza that separates the building from the teeming Euston Road.” The setting “seems so faithful to the kind of spaces that Ballard made his own.”
Dude, Where’s Your Car? Hollywood’s Contempt for We Who Don’t Drive
Ben Stiller’s character in Greenberg is “a needy and casually abusive schmuck, a socially awkward and obsessive crank. And if you need any more clues to the extent of his pathological loserdom, here’s one: He doesn’t drive. … Once we all buy into the idea that the car is freedom, not having a car reads as a form of clingy, needy dependency.”
Edinburgh Fringe Open Sources With Giant Meeting
“Of course it should be a membership organisation of some description. Of course membership should, in some way, be tied to taking part in the Fringe. Of course there should be a board and of course they should in some way be related to the membership.”
Reading Privacy. And This Is A Bad Thing?
“As the Kindle and Nook march on, people’s reading choices will increasingly be hidden from view. We’ll go into people’s houses or squeeze next to them on the subway, and we’ll no longer be able to know them, or judge them, or love them, or reject them, based on the books they carry.”
Arts Council England Study: Excellence Is Key To Funding
“ACE published the results of its consultation on a 10-year strategic framework for the sector – Achieving Great Art for Everyone – and many respondents said that excellence should be the primary reason for the arts council awarding financial support.”
Summer Concert Business Is Dismal
“For the concert business it has been a summer of hard sells and empty seats. Despite sellouts for Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber and some other hot acts, overall sales have been suffering, with prominent tours like the Eagles and “American Idols Live!” canceling dates.”
Some “Little” Details In The Broad Museum Deal
“Eli Broad’s willingness to spend an estimated $100 million to build his downtown art museum has been a leading point in its favor, but the fine print of the deal approved earlier this month by L.A.’s Community Redevelopment Agency calls for Broad’s museum to eventually receive millions of public dollars as a kind of rebate on its construction cost.”
Stratford Director David William, 84
David William was part of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival for 17 seasons and its artistic director for three years. “The British-born stage actor and director died of a head injury suffered in a fall on Wednesday, according to a statement from the annual theatre festival in southwestern Ontario.”
Is This The Worst Year Ever For Movies?
In a millennium that has thus far produced precious few motion pictures in the same class as “The Godfather,” “Jurassic Park,” “Casablanca,” “Gone with the Wind,” “My Fair Lady” and “The Matrix,” there is a knee-jerk tendency to throw up one’s hands and moan that the current year is the worst in the history of motion pictures. But 2010 very possibly is the worst year in the history of motion pictures.