TRANSHUMANISM: IMMORTALITY & SINGULARITY IN DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP? & THE TRANSHUMANIST WAGER

The domination of the future by robots who have artificial intelligence and the possibility of the increase in their population represent a situation which may create danger for people. For this reason, killing a robot with which a human-being is having a clash may create a more liveable environment for the humans who are a minority on earth. The main character of the aforementioned book, the Transhumanist Wager, is Jethro Knights and the main character of the other book, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Is Rick Deckard, and they both describe the conflict and duties throughout their own stories. Eventhough the first book’s main character Jethro Knights is rejected because of his writings and research on Transhumanism, and he even loses his lover for the sake of this search, he overcomes all the obstacles while searching for his purpose in life. He wants to build his land, Transhumania, and to achieve immortality. The other work's main character Rick Deckard who lives on a place similar to Transhumania (it is called ‘Mars’ in the book), inhabits a world where artificial intelligence robots do not serve humanity any more for they work for the disadvantage of humanity in a war zone. The story takes place on a planet where artificial robots fight for their lives and a war between the 'real and artificial' takes place for the welfare of Earth. While underlining the differences between the terms ‘real and virtual’, his war and conflict against the robots is reflected onto the reader. This study analyses the desire for immortality and the creation of artificial intelligence in these two literary works, Do Androids Dream of Electrics Sheep? by Philip K. Dick and The Transhumanist Wager by Zoltan Istvan. The desires for immortality of the main caharacters of two books have positive enduring lives for humans or human-like robots in their chaotic atmospheres. The challenging stories of them make the characters more enthusiastic. Their desires are just some of the pieces of Transhumanistic life or lives. The differences and similarities help the reader see and understand various sides of Transhumanism. Also, the reflection of Transhumanism onto other selected literary works is examined. In this study, Philip K. Dick and Zoltan Istvan’s main characters are shown as desiring for creating new lives by creating immortality in chaotic atmospheres for human and human-like robots. The differences and similiarities of the main characters present Transhumanizm with different examples to the reader.

ANRDOİDLER ELEKTRİKLİ KOYUN DÜŞLER Mİ? VE TRANSHUMANİST BAHİS’TE TRANSHUMANİZM: ÖLÜMSÜZLÜK VE TEKİLLİK

Geleceğin yapay zekâlı robotlarla yönetilmesi ve onların gelecekteki nüfuslarının artması ihtimali insanlar için tehlike arz edebilir bir durumdur. Bu sebeple, insanoğlunun çekişmeli bir halde olduğu bu robotları yok etmek dünyada azınlıkta olan insanoğluna yaşanabilir bir atmosfer yaratabilir. İlk eser The Transhumanist Bahis’ın başkarakter araştırmacı Jethro Knights hikâyesinde Transhumaizm hakkında yazmış olduğu yazılarının ve araştırlamarının reddedilmesine rağmen hatta araştırması uğruna sevdiği insanı kaybetmesine rağmen, bütün bu engelleri Transhumanya’ sını kurup ölümsüzlüğü başarma hedefine ulaşırken bir engel olarak değil aksine destekleyici unsur olarak görmüştür. Diğer seçilen eser Androidler Elektrikli Koyun Düşler mi? ‘nin baş karakteri Rick Deckard, bahsi edilen Transhumanya’ya benzer bir gezegende (kitapta bu gezegenin adı Mars’tır) yapay zekâlı robotların artık insanlığın yararına değil, zararına yaşam sürdüklerini okuyucu anlatmak ister ve bir yandan da ‘gerçek ve yapay’ kavramları arasındaki farkı sunarken insanların robotlarla olan savaşını okuyucuya aktarır. Bu çalışma, iki edebi eser, Philip K. Dick tarafından yazılmış Androidler Elektrikli Koyun Düşler mi? ve Zoltan Istvan tarafından yazılmış olan Transhumanist Bahis’te ölümsüz olmayı ve yapay zekâyı oluşturma arzusunu temel alarak Transhumanizm’in seçili edebi eserlere yansımalarını incelemektedir. Bu incelemede Philip K. Dick ve Zoltan Istvan’ın ana karakterlerinin, insanların ve insan görünümlü robotların kendileri için ölümsüzlüğü kaotik ortamlarında başararak, yeni yaşamlar oluşturma istekleri de sunulmaktadır. Her iki eserin başkarakterlerinin farklılıkları ve benzerlikleri, Transhümanizm kavramını edebi eserler aracılığıyla okuyucuya farklı örneklerle sunmaktadır.

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