Reposted by Jen Wang
35 years ago on September 28, 1991, TV show 'Star Trek: The Next Generation' aired episode "Darmok"
Jen Wang
@jenwang.com
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SoCal. Composer, ED of People Inside Electronics, choral singer, amateur viola da gamba & banjo player, mapo tofu enthusiast. No TERFs. She/her.
![BENJAMIN: Sam, you're 11, yeah? But you're part of this thing that's been going on for hundreds of years. What does that feel like? Do you ever think about that?
SAM: No, I never think about that. I mostly focus on the singing. It doesn't really matter how old it was. I don't really care if it was made a thousand years ago or two days before I joined: it'— it's all basically the same when I'm singing.
BENJAMIN: Do you feel like you tend to live in the moment?
SAM:Well, I— like, the moment and the future. And occasionally the past when I do history lessons. But otherwise I don't— I don't see the point of praising something just because it happens to be old. Mm... yeah: don't let the past get in the way of advancements.
BENJAMIN: So- so, the past might have been very good, but the future could also be very good?
SAM: Or better! [He waggles his eyebrows.] Shiny and faster cars, and more powerful iPhones, and— [picking up speed] and eventually— now this— now this is something I've been thinking about for a long time: eventually, what if there's an Alexa that is so powerful that you can say "Alexa, go mow my lawn!" and it uses telekinesis to mow your lawn? Wouldn't that be cool? [A pause.] As long as we don't make it self-aware, we'll be fine. Like, I've seen videos of, like: "Once we make self-aware AI, we'll be doomed!" And I'm just thinking: "How about you DON’T make self-aware Al and doom humankind? Why don't you just NOT make that?"](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:5yrtfvpkjpz73illuirror7c/bafkreif6o4d3q4kgpckljbpsx3ghvyqgnhcdeonhnvwha3cicv6oviiy5q)
![BENJAMIN: What do you think Al *can't* do? What do you think are things that only humans can do?
SAM: Well, currently— well, currently, only human beings can feel real emotion and improvise. [A pause.] Computers might be able to improvise. That's scary: like, just... [He hesitates, then rallies.] Hmm. No: I'm pretty sure they can't: they have to stick to the code. We don't: we can do whatever we like. So, there's certain things, like: be self-aware; have emotion; be, uh... it's like Adam and Eve: computers won't think "Oh no! We're naked!" but humans could think that. It's like a human— like, a computer won't go out in public trying to disguise its computer stands.
BENJAMIN: The way humans go out in public trying to disguise their nakedness, for instance?
SAM: Yes.
BENJAMIN: Do you know the lesson that sometimes gets read at Christmas about Adam and Eve realising that they were naked and then having to leave the garden?
SAM:Mmhm. Because they ate an apple. The thing is: if this God fellow is so smart, why didn't he put it on top of a mountain or something? If he didn't want them to eat it, then— then maybe it was a test. Like, um, in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy books, Ford Prefect made a very good point: he said he always thought the Garden of Eden was a strange story, because the kind of person who'd just put something in plain sight and say, "now, don't get that!" and then kind of wait behind a bush for when they do and yell "Gotcha!" is the kind of person that will find another way to destroy you anyway, if that doesn't work.
BENJAMIN: Huh. And that makes you think again about the story?
SAM: Mmhm.
— Chapel chorister "Sam" (age 11)](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:5yrtfvpkjpz73illuirror7c/bafkreiedheqnbqqdbmiatpufylp5otachp5mfwvpxeepmyze77hypsbina)
