I haven’t written anything personal in quite some time due to several factors. I was compelled due to recent events. As most know or should be aware if you are a fan of science fiction, artificial intelligence or biology then you know that Rutger Hauer left this place we call Earth. Rutger played Roy Batty, replicant,Nexus model number N6MAA10816, which was a combat model. He was also the leader of a renegade replicant group that hijacked a shuttle and traveled to Earth to demand a longer lifespan. I watched both BladeRunners in sequential format. Earlier this year I re-read Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, !984 and Brave New World within a two week period. AFAIC, while 1984’s dystopian purview was enthralling and the terminology was spot on, the aspects of DADOES were and are so much more prescient and dealt more with within our psyche and of our so-called modern world. With the passing of Rutger Hauer, I was reminded of the immensity of the final death monologue that he authored and performed, supposedly in one take to the amazement of those in attendance, even bringing them to tears. Here is the scene:
I also believe the original soundtrack design by Vangelis‘ that Hans Zimmer in the 2049 remake essentially duplicated, in obvious deference, I would hope to due its perfection, adds to the immensity of the scene. What strikes me about this scene is the curios aspect the original Blade Runner was set in 2019 and Mr Hauer passed away in 2019. I call that #suspiciouscoincidence. What also struck me about watching this film for the (Nth) time was the sheer love of the experience of living that awe inspiriting retrospection of the beauty of the sheer joy of the experience itself that was being presented by an android who just saved the life of the human that was sent to exterminate him! The duality is astounding! Furthermore the android knew full well that he was being extinguished due to a timeout algorithm. Yet he still takes his time to emote on the carnality and the sheer magnitude for the love of existence. I spend an exorbitant amount of time nowadays thinking about machines that possibly can learn, think, reason and understand the world around them. Sentience is bandied about like useless tweets these days yet we are so far removed from the essence of existence. Sometimes I believe the real reason we are so enthralled about these types of endeavors is just to gain control. Control over everything even – death.
As an aside in complexity theory no one really knows why Fibonacci sequences and the Golden Ratio are so prevalent? That is but one example of how much we do not know. I digress.
Roy had an understanding of how short his existence was and how much time he had to experience the universe. Quality Over Quantity is a maxim that comes to mind. While it is not for me to say whether N6MAA10816 was “good” or “evil” – he did save Harrison Ford’s (aka The Blade Runner) life – I can assure you that he was envious of what we humans have here on this beautiful planet. We have C-Beams right in front of us everyday.
I’ll probably be retiring this blog and moving everything over to my official site in the future tedtanner.org
Until then,
Go Big or Go Home (or to the Tannhäuser Gate)
//ted