The Illusion of Depth

Happy Holidays! Season's Greetings!  Chestnuts are roasting, sleigh bells are ringing, yule logs are burning, and computers are trying to enslave the human race. I am not currently in a position to do anything about the yule logs, but as a public service, I feel I should pass along this timely warning about the imminent destruction of humanity.  So, Happy Chanukah! Merry Christmas! Blessed Kwanzaa! Happy New Year! The machines are coming for us and we're all going to die! I'm being ridiculous, of course; after all what respectable liberal would ever say "Happy Chanukah" in public? But they are warning us of the coming robot uprising. It's The End of the World!!! In May, 2023, a short, headline-grabbing statement was published by a group calling itself the "Center for AI Safety" (CAIS): Their statement was signed by thousands of scientists, politicians and other public figures. It was widely reported and discussed in the media. Prime Minister Rishi Su

Please note that this week's film has been rated  12  in the UK. Last week's film ( Logan's Run ) is a prime example of a science fiction film that was emphatically a product of the era in which it was made. If anything, its very relevance proved to be its vulnerability. By the time it reached the theatres in 1976, many of the social trends it was responding to were already starting to fade. That may also be why attempts to produce a remake have consistently failed to make any headway. Hollywood studios have repeatedly attempted to reboot Logan's Run over the decades, and at least six different directors have embarked on such a project over the last 30 years. Multiple writers have been approached, and in some cases have written complete screenplays - but to no avail. Logan's Run has remained stubbornly and imperviously un-remade. If you think about it (and I have, trust me) remaking Logan's Run is easier said than done. After a decade of hippie culture, you

Imagine for a moment that you're a middle-aged American witnessing the 1960s. You probably have vivid memories of World War II. Depending on just how "middle-aged" you are, you might even have some memories of World War I. In any event, your formative years were probably spent during the decade of the Great Depression. If you are male (and in some instances female) your "vivid memories" of World War II are probably the kinds of memories that wake you up screaming in the middle of the night. If you are a parent, your kids were most likely born during the post-war "baby boom". And if you are even slightly liberal, you probably raised them according to the teachings of Dr. Spock, giving them a much more permissive and soft upbringing than you ever had from your own parents. In any event, your kids' formative years would have been spent in the 1950s, when the country was enjoying a period of economic prosperity. They would have had a great childhood; m