Memory Altering Technologies and the Capacity to Forgive: Westworld and Volf in Dialogue
I explore the impact of memory altering technologies in the science fiction drama (2016-2020) in order to show that unreconciled altered traumatic memory may lead to a dystopian breakdown of society. I bring Miroslav Volf's theological perspectives on memory into conversation with the plot of W...
Main Author: | |
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Format: | Electronic Article |
Language: | English |
Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
Journals Online & Print: | |
Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
Published: |
Open Library of Humanities$s2024-
[2020]
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In: |
Zygon
Year: 2020, Volume: 55, Issue: 3, Pages: 713-732 |
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Volf, Miroslav 1956-
/ Westworld (Television series)
/ Trauma
/ Memory
/ Enhancement (Medical ethics)
/ Artificial intelligence
/ Forgiveness
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RelBib Classification: | AA Study of religion AG Religious life; material religion |
Further subjects: | B
Forgiveness
B Technology B Artificial Intelligence B Memory B remembering rightly B memory altering B Dystopia B Miroslav Volf B Science Fiction |
Online Access: |
Volltext (Verlag) Volltext (doi) |
Summary: | I explore the impact of memory altering technologies in the science fiction drama (2016-2020) in order to show that unreconciled altered traumatic memory may lead to a dystopian breakdown of society. I bring Miroslav Volf's theological perspectives on memory into conversation with the plot of Westworld in order to reveal connections between memory altering technologies and humanity's responsibility to remember rightly. Using Volf's theology of remembering as an interpretive lens, I analyze characters’ inability to remember rightly while recalling partial memories of their trauma. In virtue of this examination, I contend that memory altering technologies may inhibit individuals from relational processes of healing, such as forgiveness. Consequently, I argue that this study leads to a richer understanding of the potential that memory altering technologies have for undermining humanity's ability to interact in a relational capacity, specifically in terms of forgiveness. |
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ISSN: | 1467-9744 |
Contains: | Enthalten in: Zygon
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Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1111/zygo.12633 |