A genetically engineered human alien hybrid remote controlled body is carrying...a gunpowder rifle? Something's wrong with this picture.
Futurist Ray Kurzweil spends most of his time thinking about how technology will develop in the coming years, so it’s no wonder he took an interest in Avatar, a movie that provides a breath-taking view of a future conflict between technological haves and have-nots on a distant planet. Avatar’s been scorned and lauded by political pundits, praised for its advancement in digital film-making, but rarely analyzed for its assumptions on technology. Kurzweil does just this, questioning why an advanced human civilization that can travel through space is fighting with guns and missiles. While the central technological device to the movie, the avatars, is a remarkable example of prowess in genetics, brain computer interface, and wireless communication, the rest of the movie is littered with mediocre machines that either exist now, or could be developed very soon. Hollywood seems unable to take the great leap forward and show us a future where technology has pervaded and upgraded every aspect of our lives.
The blending of future and present technology is actually a fairly standard Movie and TV trope. As we saw with SyFy TV series Caprica, writers are pretty good at taking the scientific developments of today and creating a few remarkable devices for their fictional futures. But in Caprica, humans are still talking on mobile phones (not even smart phones) and driving cars. In the recent Star Trek movie, humans still look like the humans of today, and Kirk drove a motorcycle. Avatar has space marines communicating via radio and video and without a robot in sight. This sort of mixed presentation of the future – some remarkable technologies, some you already know and love, is a technique to get an audience to identify with the characters. It’s good story telling, but it’s bad futurism.
Kurzweil critiques Avatar on several key points. First, besides the avatars themselves, the technology that we see in the movie is often adapted from things we already have today. Transparent LCD screens are in development. 3D interactive displays and large wrap around display screens, like those seen in Minority Report, are on their way now. Exoskeletons are being developed for military use, and we’ve had enormous aircraft for decades. Wouldn’t these technologies have been upgraded or replaced by successors by this point in the future?
The heroes of Avatar seem to be pondering a question: why does their movie portray technology as mostly destructive? A little funny for a film that was made using cutting edge digital techniques, right?
Second, Kurzweil explains that besides being applied unevenly, technological developments in Avatar don’t seem to be very pervasive. I agree completely. Where are the computers embedded in clothing and cigarettes? We have genetic engineering, but people haven’t decided to get taller, or change their skin colors, or add claws? If you can send your thoughts to a giant genetically engineered blue body, why can’t soldiers communicate in the same way? Wouldn’t everyone want to use that technology? That would make computer screens obsolete. If the marines really wanted to kill the Na’vi, why don’t they just release a genetically crafted virus – they must be able to make one, they created an entire Na’vi avatar after all. If you can travel between stars, couldn’t you just kill people from orbit with powerful lasers? Well, those solutions wouldn’t be very entertaining, I guess.
Finally, Kurzweil questions the themes of the movie itself: technological aggressors are out to destroy a primitive culture and steal their resources. He notes, and I think everyone can agree, that such a theme has been played out in our history many times over. Still, are we actually going to find humanoids on another planet and play out this sort of tragedy again? Why would there even be humanoids on another planet? Why would we only use technology to harm another species/civilization/nature? Kurzweil points out that tech gets a bad rap in Avatar – nature has to defeat it and remain pure. The truth is that our future will hopefully be one where technology enhances and protects nature, evolving the human experience.
In my own opinion, the making of Avatar is much more revolutionary than the movie itself. CGI, 3D digital simulations during filming – James Cameron is really innovative as a producer/director. Yet as a visionary of the future…the movie is just too bogged down in today to understand what tomorrow may be like. With advances in energy, we won’t need a bizarre rock on a distant planet. Brain computer interfaces will allow us to interact with machines and each other in ways that we’ve never experienced before, hopefully fostering a sense of global community. Genetics and medicine will keep us healthy well into our later years. Programmable matter (smart materials) could provide us with all the devices we need and recycle the ones we don’t. I admit, that these predictions are a form of story telling, they paint a fairly rosy picture of the years ahead. But we already have many institutions (like Singularity University) working to solve the grand challenges of today. Which makes more sense: that humanity will use technology in all parts of their lives to better themselves and their world, or that we’ll go to the stars and get beaten up by tribal Smurfs?
*Kurzweil’s critiques of Avatar can be found in their entirety here. His arguments are more expansive and detailed than I’ve had a chance to cover. Hopefully he won’t mind the paraphrasing.*
[image credits: 20th Century Fox]
[sources: Kurzweil AI, Avatar-Movie, 20th Century Fox]
Comments
While I can see many of Kurzweil’s predictions as compelling, I completely disagree w his assessment of this film (let me clarify; I’m not a huge fan of it but Ray is still just wrong)..
First, not all industries and aspects of our lives ARE changing from technology or are at the same pase as computers, etc. Just look at how slow aviation is moving. Also the humans WERENT trying to kill the native “that would be bad PR”.
Second and most importantly, the theme of the movie (besides being VERY historically relevant) is relevant today. The FACT is that wealthy capitalist nations ARE stealing resources from other places AND destroying local cultures all over the world. The UN predicts that 85% of the cultures that existed in 2000 will be completely assimilated into western culture by 2050. That means that they will become resource hungry, polluting, prozac doped, slaves in a rat race for jobs etc to survive.. just like westerners. I’m not against progress but this is unacceptable and is something that the “innovators” needs to address. Perhaps not every aspect of our lives or our responsibilities should be outsourced to a company that we can pay a monthly fee to.. you get the idea.
While I can see many of Kurzweil’s predictions as compelling, I completely disagree w his assessment of this film (let me clarify; I’m not a huge fan of it but Ray is still just wrong)..
First, not all industries and aspects of our lives ARE changing from technology or are at the same pase as computers, etc. Just look at how slow aviation is moving. Also the humans WERENT trying to kill the native “that would be bad PR”.
Second and most importantly, the theme of the movie (besides being VERY historically relevant) is relevant today. The FACT is that wealthy capitalist nations ARE stealing resources from other places AND destroying local cultures all over the world. The UN predicts that 85% of the cultures that existed in 2000 will be completely assimilated into western culture by 2050. That means that they will become resource hungry, polluting, prozac doped, slaves in a rat race for jobs etc to survive.. just like westerners. I’m not against progress but this is unacceptable and is something that the “innovators” needs to address. Perhaps not every aspect of our lives or our responsibilities should be outsourced to a company that we can pay a monthly fee to.. you get the idea.
While I can see many of Kurzweil’s predictions as compelling, I completely disagree w his assessment of this film (let me clarify; I’m not a huge fan of it but Ray is still just wrong)..
First, not all industries and aspects of our lives ARE changing from technology or are at the same pase as computers, etc. Just look at how slow aviation is moving. Also the humans WERENT trying to kill the native “that would be bad PR”.
Second and most importantly, the theme of the movie (besides being VERY historically relevant) is relevant today. The FACT is that wealthy capitalist nations ARE stealing resources from other places AND destroying local cultures all over the world. The UN predicts that 85% of the cultures that existed in 2000 will be completely assimilated into western culture by 2050. That means that they will become resource hungry, polluting, prozac doped, slaves in a rat race for jobs etc to survive.. just like westerners. I’m not against progress but this is unacceptable and is something that the “innovators” needs to address. Perhaps not every aspect of our lives or our responsibilities should be outsourced to a company that we can pay a monthly fee to.. you get the idea.
So there is just lousy censorship on this page – what an embarrassment when arguments no longer help!
Well, never EVER again use the word “science”!
- I hope that the admin of this page regrets his attempts of censorship -
Kurzweil is in denial.
And so is the author of this badly written text.
Every technology is used for mass murder first, then for destruction second.
To ignore this all-encompassing foundational principle of western culture is RIDICULOUS to say the least.
There is not even a hint at any argument in this that the future will be a total turn-around, yet this text just announces it to happen.
The author of the text is also quite bad regarding the overall interpretation of the movie.
First of all, he didn’t even pay attention.
The Na’vi didn’t win over the humans, they lost by all standards. It was the neural network of the planet that defeated the humans, using the animals as attack robots.
And why didn’t the humans use viruses or lasers or (much more obvious) nukes? Well, they explain it right in the movie – because it would bring bad press.
Second of all, one should have a basic vocabulary of semantics when a movie is about to be reviewed. Like Cameron himself said (read up on it, damn it!) the Na’vi merely represent a higher form of what we ourselves could be if only we could let go of our destructive culture.
So you don’t really need the starseed theory to explain why they look human, it is explained by the fact that what we see is the presence: Corporations murdering indigenious people for profit. Zombiefied human flesh eaters use cold and dead destruction technology to rape living spirits who are connected to a living nature. Which is REALITY!
CyberdyneWeylandOCP: I almost threw up reading your comments. They’re nauseating. Do you see yourself as some champion of nature and a simpler, more pure, lifestyle; void of evil corporations? You use their products (electricity, computers, etc…) against them while boosting their profits…
Hypocrite.
So there is just lousy censorship on this page – what an embarrassment when arguments no longer help!
Well, never EVER again use the word “science”!
So there is just lousy censorship on this page – what an embarrassment when arguments no longer help!
Well, never EVER again use the word “science”!
- I hope that the admin of this page regrets his attempts of censorship -
Kurzweil is in denial.
And so is the author of this badly written text.
Every technology is used for mass murder first, then for destruction second.
To ignore this all-encompassing foundational principle of western culture is RIDICULOUS to say the least.
There is not even a hint at any argument in this that the future will be a total turn-around, yet this text just announces it to happen.
The author of the text is also quite bad regarding the overall interpretation of the movie.
First of all, he didn’t even pay attention.
The Na’vi didn’t win over the humans, they lost by all standards. It was the neural network of the planet that defeated the humans, using the animals as attack robots.
And why didn’t the humans use viruses or lasers or (much more obvious) nukes? Well, they explain it right in the movie – because it would bring bad press.
Second of all, one should have a basic vocabulary of semantics when a movie is about to be reviewed. Like Cameron himself said (read up on it, damn it!) the Na’vi merely represent a higher form of what we ourselves could be if only we could let go of our destructive culture.
So you don’t really need the starseed theory to explain why they look human, it is explained by the fact that what we see is the presence: Corporations murdering indigenious people for profit. Zombiefied human flesh eaters use cold and dead destruction technology to rape living spirits who are connected to a living nature. Which is REALITY!
CyberdyneWeylandOCP: I almost threw up reading your comments. They’re nauseating. Do you see yourself as some champion of nature and a simpler, more pure, lifestyle; void of evil corporations? You use their products (electricity, computers, etc…) against them while boosting their profits…
Hypocrite.
CyberdyneWeylandOCP: I almost threw up reading your comments. They’re nauseating. Do you see yourself as some champion of nature and a simpler, more pure, lifestyle; void of evil corporations? You use their products (electricity, computers, etc…) against them while boosting their profits…
Hypocrite.
- I hope that the admin of this page regrets his attempts of censorship -
Kurzweil is in denial.
And so is the author of this badly written text.
Every technology is used for mass murder first, then for destruction second.
To ignore this all-encompassing foundational principle of western culture is RIDICULOUS to say the least.
There is not even a hint at any argument in this that the future will be a total turn-around, yet this text just announces it to happen.
The author of the text is also quite bad regarding the overall interpretation of the movie.
First of all, he didn’t even pay attention.
The Na’vi didn’t win over the humans, they lost by all standards. It was the neural network of the planet that defeated the humans, using the animals as attack robots.
And why didn’t the humans use viruses or lasers or (much more obvious) nukes? Well, they explain it right in the movie – because it would bring bad press.
Second of all, one should have a basic vocabulary of semantics when a movie is about to be reviewed. Like Cameron himself said (read up on it, damn it!) the Na’vi merely represent a higher form of what we ourselves could be if only we could let go of our destructive culture.
So you don’t really need the starseed theory to explain why they look human, it is explained by the fact that what we see is the presence: Corporations murdering indigenious people for profit. Zombiefied human flesh eaters use cold and dead destruction technology to rape living spirits who are connected to a living nature. Which is REALITY!
We don’t want advanced technology and new toys. That is what I believe is the voice of the majority. This applies outside of the theater as well.
Avatar, BSG, and Caprica are all among my top favourites. I watched Avatar 3D five times, every BSG episode at least twice, and look forward to every Caprica episode. I even have some BSG and Caprica toys (I am holding a Buccaneers ticket). I’m basically obsessed.
I am also quite obsessed with science fact and physics, particularly with the settlement of Mars. Based on what I have learned in the past two years studying astrophysics and geophysics, it is *very likely* that the fanciful things we see in Stargate, Star Trek, and otherwise are impossible. Not necessarily impossible, but it’s fair to say we’ll need another few thousand years. Even that is presuming that we posses the intellectual capacity for such technologies. So far we’ve been pretty lucky discovering the applicable properties of graphene, particularly with how its electrical conductivity can be manipulated by studding it with hydrogen atoms.
But I don’t enjoy BSG, Avatar 3D, and Caprica primarily because of toys. It’s the humanity, the drama, the challenges, all that good stuff, and I honestly think I speak for everyone here. I just happen to relate to science-fiction, which makes it easy to swallow. What I enjoyed most about Larry Niven’s Ringworld series was not the ring, its size, how it worked, how long it had been there, but the behavior of that feisty furry orange cat and how he looked pathetic after getting roasted by the reflective sunflowers.
Smart phones and iPhones are great and offer obvious benefits, but recent studies indicate that we use them too much and its deteriorates our ability to make and keep interpersonal relationships. Rather than show any interest or consideration in populating media with advanced technological ideas, I am passionately more focused on building bridges with and to one another.
Technology giveth and it taketh away.
A far more effective and reliable strategy is a simple attitude of gratitude for what we do have. An acute awareness of what we have to work with presently. This speaks not only for the majority but also holds for natural selection. Evolution works with what it has, not with what is ideal.
- J
We don’t want advanced technology and new toys. That is what I believe is the voice of the majority. This applies outside of the theater as well.
Avatar, BSG, and Caprica are all among my top favourites. I watched Avatar 3D five times, every BSG episode at least twice, and look forward to every Caprica episode. I even have some BSG and Caprica toys (I am holding a Buccaneers ticket). I’m basically obsessed.
I am also quite obsessed with science fact and physics, particularly with the settlement of Mars. Based on what I have learned in the past two years studying astrophysics and geophysics, it is *very likely* that the fanciful things we see in Stargate, Star Trek, and otherwise are impossible. Not necessarily impossible, but it’s fair to say we’ll need another few thousand years. Even that is presuming that we posses the intellectual capacity for such technologies. So far we’ve been pretty lucky discovering the applicable properties of graphene, particularly with how its electrical conductivity can be manipulated by studding it with hydrogen atoms.
But I don’t enjoy BSG, Avatar 3D, and Caprica primarily because of toys. It’s the humanity, the drama, the challenges, all that good stuff, and I honestly think I speak for everyone here. I just happen to relate to science-fiction, which makes it easy to swallow. What I enjoyed most about Larry Niven’s Ringworld series was not the ring, its size, how it worked, how long it had been there, but the behavior of that feisty furry orange cat and how he looked pathetic after getting roasted by the reflective sunflowers.
Smart phones and iPhones are great and offer obvious benefits, but recent studies indicate that we use them too much and its deteriorates our ability to make and keep interpersonal relationships. Rather than show any interest or consideration in populating media with advanced technological ideas, I am passionately more focused on building bridges with and to one another.
Technology giveth and it taketh away.
A far more effective and reliable strategy is a simple attitude of gratitude for what we do have. An acute awareness of what we have to work with presently. This speaks not only for the majority but also holds for natural selection. Evolution works with what it has, not with what is ideal.
- J
We don’t want advanced technology and new toys. That is what I believe is the voice of the majority. This applies outside of the theater as well.
Avatar, BSG, and Caprica are all among my top favourites. I watched Avatar 3D five times, every BSG episode at least twice, and look forward to every Caprica episode. I even have some BSG and Caprica toys (I am holding a Buccaneers ticket). I’m basically obsessed.
I am also quite obsessed with science fact and physics, particularly with the settlement of Mars. Based on what I have learned in the past two years studying astrophysics and geophysics, it is *very likely* that the fanciful things we see in Stargate, Star Trek, and otherwise are impossible. Not necessarily impossible, but it’s fair to say we’ll need another few thousand years. Even that is presuming that we posses the intellectual capacity for such technologies. So far we’ve been pretty lucky discovering the applicable properties of graphene, particularly with how its electrical conductivity can be manipulated by studding it with hydrogen atoms.
But I don’t enjoy BSG, Avatar 3D, and Caprica primarily because of toys. It’s the humanity, the drama, the challenges, all that good stuff, and I honestly think I speak for everyone here. I just happen to relate to science-fiction, which makes it easy to swallow. What I enjoyed most about Larry Niven’s Ringworld series was not the ring, its size, how it worked, how long it had been there, but the behavior of that feisty furry orange cat and how he looked pathetic after getting roasted by the reflective sunflowers.
Smart phones and iPhones are great and offer obvious benefits, but recent studies indicate that we use them too much and its deteriorates our ability to make and keep interpersonal relationships. Rather than show any interest or consideration in populating media with advanced technological ideas, I am passionately more focused on building bridges with and to one another.
Technology giveth and it taketh away.
A far more effective and reliable strategy is a simple attitude of gratitude for what we do have. An acute awareness of what we have to work with presently. This speaks not only for the majority but also holds for natural selection. Evolution works with what it has, not with what is ideal.
- J
Kurzweil is over the hill.
Kurzweil is over the hill.
Kurzweil is over the hill.
“Avatar’s been scorned and lauded by political pundits, praised for its advancement in digital film-making, but rarely analyzed for its assumptions on technology.”
first thing that comes in the mind after watching every sci-fi is to think of the technology level in the movie.
Hopefully, Kurzweill will advise next big sci- fi blockbaster scenario
)
“Avatar’s been scorned and lauded by political pundits, praised for its advancement in digital film-making, but rarely analyzed for its assumptions on technology.”
first thing that comes in the mind after watching every sci-fi is to think of the technology level in the movie.
Hopefully, Kurzweill will advise next big sci- fi blockbaster scenario
)
This article brings up a valid point, but it’s out of context. The truth of the matter is, that when we go to watch a movie (i.e. Avatar) and if that movie is overloaded with new unseen, futuristic inventions and weapons, etc. then audiences may experience an alienation from the new technologies because they wouldn’t be able to relate it to their own world/culture. Movies can’t go full-on futuristic, we wouldn’t get it.
This article brings up a valid point, but it’s out of context. The truth of the matter is, that when we go to watch a movie (i.e. Avatar) and if that movie is overloaded with new unseen, futuristic inventions and weapons, etc. then audiences may experience an alienation from the new technologies because they wouldn’t be able to relate it to their own world/culture. Movies can’t go full-on futuristic, we wouldn’t get it.
I’m not going to fault anyone here for thinking differently about where tech is leading humanity. It is what it is, and it will get to where the individual wants it to be in the way mankind measures time.
I used to think strongly of a Star trek Classic future. Then I found an Anime show called Cowboy Bebop. While a lot of it is also scientifically inaccurate, it does say something quite obvious. There are still going to be projectile weapons. People will still build conventional housing. And entertainment will still come over radio airwaves in some audio and/or visual format. Just because a tech is old, doesn’t mean it’s out of style.
Going on that premise, we live in the future now. We have space travel. We have robots. We have communicators. We have avatar doubles. And some of us live in the net, even though our physical presence is still required for data processing.
Who’s to say the Singularity hasn’t already happened? Or is doing the slow curve?
I’m not going to fault anyone here for thinking differently about where tech is leading humanity. It is what it is, and it will get to where the individual wants it to be in the way mankind measures time.
I used to think strongly of a Star trek Classic future. Then I found an Anime show called Cowboy Bebop. While a lot of it is also scientifically inaccurate, it does say something quite obvious. There are still going to be projectile weapons. People will still build conventional housing. And entertainment will still come over radio airwaves in some audio and/or visual format. Just because a tech is old, doesn’t mean it’s out of style.
Going on that premise, we live in the future now. We have space travel. We have robots. We have communicators. We have avatar doubles. And some of us live in the net, even though our physical presence is still required for data processing.
Who’s to say the Singularity hasn’t already happened? Or is doing the slow curve?
The movie does not depict the Nabi as primitive. To the contrary, the technology of nature they were using were in many ways superior to the tech of the humans. That was a key theme RayK. Can’t wait for Transcendent Man!
The movie does not depict the Nabi as primitive. To the contrary, the technology of nature they were using were in many ways superior to the tech of the humans. That was a key theme RayK. Can’t wait for Transcendent Man!
More rubbish talk by Mr. 'Inevitability', aka Kurzweil!
The man's no futurist – he's a dreamer. Real futurists don't 'predict' things and actively pushes the ignorant wannabes to make *his* own dreams come true.
Worse still, the faux “futurist” blasts well-known fictitious works for not including his biased vision of the future “in the works”! Fortunately James Cameron doesn't have a Kurzweil leash around his neck.
Frankly, Kurzweil has no right telling other fiction writers what to write about. Period.
I am totaly agree with the report, but… besides… is just a movie, and pretty impressive visual efects.It could be more realistic, but the majority of the population dont have that kind of information about the near future or aware of.
Neither does Kurzweil think so. Decent futurists take multinational corporations and the rest of the world into account when predicting (not *deciding*) the future.
In fact, Kurzweil is very precise about it, quoting lots of statistics and studies and basing all of his predictions on what we know for sure. Perhaps you should read “The Singularity is Near”.
Yeah, it's just a film. If they'd portrayed the future as it probably will be, they'd have lost much of the connection to the majority of their audience. Not everyone is a singularitarian biocomputing geek or enjoys hearing – nevermind on a weekend – the scientific details.
Given a large (that is to say, infinite) amount of time for evolution to take place, nature would theoretically match any technology. Sure, it'll take ages of trial and error, but the point is, it's possible.
An old extraterrestrial nature could be “more advanced” than human technology, since deep down they're the same thing.
Oh brother…. it's a movie, not a documentary on what the future may hold. Sheesh
The “Future” will not be decided by “futurists” – it will be decided by corporations. We will get the technology the all-powerful multinational corporations ALLOW us to get, not what technology is the most beneficial. Same as today.
I was also surprised at the “lack” of advanced technology and found myself thinking about it periodically throughout the movie. Despite that, I truly enjoyed the 3D experience and even went back and saw it a second time! What I really can't wait for is Tron!
I have to disagree on one point. The bizarre rock on a distant planet appeared to be a magnetic monopole. Despite advancements in energy technology, if something like that is only found on this planet you can be pretty sure we'd want it, a lot.
While I did feel that Avatar fell into the current trope of “Technology is Evil.” That we see in most of our good sci-fi of the day I was still fairly pleased with the presentation. While the tech was unevenly applied, all of it made sense and was explained very efficiently. Cameron managed to pull off satisfying those of us who knew what was going on without boring those who don't care which is no small feat. I feel as if it's the first mainstream hard sci-fi production to come about in a long while and I see its overwhelming success as a good thing for our entertainment culture.
Everyone is going to try to copy the successes of Avatar because the entertainment industry is always trying to copy what works. If they're trying to copy hard sci-fi then we're bound to see creative instances where technology is applied evenly and we're shown things we can barely imagine today.
It's strange… I think that Avatar show us what the earth could be: genetically modified species who communicate with each other with neural interface, without any needs of external devices. It's weird that no one have notice it yet: what's the most “advanced civilization” here ? Humans, with their old-fashioned technology, or Na'vis, who could be the children of a civilization who created a world where every device is remplace by a living creature, communicating with each other via neural interface ?
(Sorry for my poor english, not my native language…)
Considering that the survivors from Battlestar Galactica eventually became the ancestors of modern humans, I would argue that Caprica is set in a 'future' Earth. Their civilization is supposed to be one that predates and gives rise to ours.
I would have to agree with Ray's assessment. The story was uncreative, and the tech was (at least to someone who keeps up with such things) not believable. Advanced brain scanning and telepresence, interstellar travel, and yet our hero is still rolling around in a wheelchair. And don't even get me started on the floating islands with *waterfalls*.