Veering Off (But in a Good Way!)

As a person, I tend to be a little unorthodox. When presented with a focused topic such as with the idea of the uncanny valley, my mind tends to point me in slightly different directions. This became more so when we all watched the “Be Right Back” episode from the Netflix show, Black Mirror. After watching the episode, I left class a little shaken but more than anything else, kind of annoyed. I was annoyed at the whole idea of episode, but I didn't really know how to put it into words until I left the discussion on Friday. Yes, I am well aware of how fast technology is progressing and that the technology needed to be able to create something like this episode will most likely make an appearance to us in our lifetimes. But after the discussion, I found myself asking… why? Why would someone even create technology with this purpose? We as human beings put a certain amount of fear and hallowedness onto the idea of death. It has always been this way throughout the vast majority of human history and it is with good reason. I don't think it is to brash to say that death is the only natural phenomena that every organic lifeform goes through and yet none of those lifeforms can explain what happens at the end. Yes, you can run tests on the physical body but what happens to one’s stream of consciousness? Does it cease to exist? Does it really go up into space to be with a big guy with a white beard? Nobody knows and that's why we humans treat it with so much care. We will go so far as to make up incredibly complicated ideas of what happens when we die. These ideas are so varied that a great number of cultures and religions have their own specific idea of what happens but none of them can be proven true or, at the very least, prove to hold any water whatsoever.  Now, where am I going with this? Well, if we as humans treat the idea of death with such delicacy, why would one of us try to invent something that would take away than meaning? A meaning that is so very core to a species that can grasp the meaning of this fear and come up with thousands of different ways to rationalize it? No, if I am being honest, I don't think anything like the events of this episode will ever actually exist simply because our fear of death seems hardwired and is only augmented by our upbringing. Feel the need to discuss? Disagree? Please continue the conversation!