Q is For Quine
Ha! Bet you don’t see any other blogs in the A-Z challenge using the word Quine! Quine means a self-replicating program or machine. Took me a while, but I got a good word.
In the history of science-fiction there have been many robots, androids and machines. Occasionally, a robot is given the ability to replicate. It’s considered one of the great moral questions of science-fiction.
Does the ability to reproduce make the machine more than just a machine? Does it mean it’s alive?
Here are some of the best and your chance to vote on your favorite.
Data (Star Trek: The Next Generation)
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| Data (Brent Spiner) and Lal (Hallie Tod) in “The Offspring” |
The Machines (The Matrix)
Cylons (Battlestar Galactica)
Cyberdyne Systems (The Terminator)
Mechas (A.I. Artificial Intelligence)
Val Com 17485 and Aqua Com 89045 (Heartbeeps)
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| Andy Kaufman & Bernadette Peters in Heartbeeps |
“The New Breed” Nanobots (The Outer Limits)
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| Dr. Stephen Ledbetter (Richard Thomas) and Dr. Andy Groenig (Peter Outerbridge)
The Outer Limits “The New Breed” |
Bio-Dreads (Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future)
V’Ger (Star Trek: The Motion Picture)
VOTE NOW!
Can you think of any more self-replicating robots? Do you have a favorite? Does the ability to procreate mean a machine is alive?
This post is part of the month long “A-Z Challenge.” For 27 days, I’ll be choosing a letter from the alphabet and crafting a post around it. To read more of the posts in the series click here. To find out more about the challenge go here.
Hosts: Arlee Bird at Tossing it Out, Alex J. Cavanaugh, Stephen Tremp at Breakthrough Blogs, Jenny Pearson at Pearson Report, Matthew McNish at The QQQE, Tina Downey atLife is Good, Jeremy Hawkins at Retro-Zombie, DL Hammons at Cruising Altitude, Shannon Lawrence at The Warrior Muse, Elizabeth Mueller, Damyanti Biswas at Amlokiblogs, Karen Gowen at Coming Down the Mountain, and Konstanz Silverbow at No Thought 2 Small. Check the Facebook page and the Twitter hashtag is #AtoZChallenge.
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<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="40260 ">11 Comments
Have to go with the Terminator machines on this one. Stargate SG1 also had a race of replicants.
Alex, I never really watched the show so I didn't know about them. I'll add them to the list.
I thought this post would be full of things like borg nanoprobes and I don't mind admitting that quine is a new word on me…
I'd have to go with Cylons. By your command. 🙂
M pax the one thing I wish they'd brought back to the new series was that line. I loved it. Thanks for the flashback.
Dave, I almost added the Borg, but technically they're cyborgs not robots. I didn't feel like dealing with the inevitable question of why they're in the list. Good call though.
One learns something every day–I had no clue about Quine, and the moral implications certainly do sound… well, muddy. Not a huge fan of sci-fi, but I'd love to have this discussion 🙂
Guilie, thanks for your comment. It's a thorny question.
Lal felt emotions! I nearly wept just watching her shut down. Datas got my vote.
replicators from Stargate SG-1?
Say, good one!