Time Travel

I guess the title spoiled the surprise.

While thinking about this assignment, I began to think about what it would be like to imagine a situation which is probably improbable but weirdly that we as humans have become quite aware with as we have seen it in films, books, television shows for years.

We've seen it in Doctor Who, Back II the Future, and many many other media.

I then began to think of what emotion is normally related to these when certain time travel moments occur.


2 Biffs!!!

Specifically, I began to think about the emotion which these characters normally portray as they receive the news that they are talking to someone from the future or when they realize that they are in the future.

And the way I describe this emotion is Bewilderment.


Love, Death & Robots

I think this example from love, death & robots is a good example of various ways bewilderment may come across different characters. One of the robots is very very excited after initially being confused while the other robots are severely underwhelmed.

Bewilderment in Science

While doing some reading on the idea of bewilderment in science, I stumbled upon an article in Nautilus by Kevin Berger, where he quotes a physician Lewis Thomas, “Most things in the world are unsettling and bewildering, and it is mistake to try to explain them away; they are there for marveling at and wondering at, and we should be doing more of this.” (Berger, 2018). Later on, Berger talking to author Richard Powers, spoke about how Powers loved how Thomas thought that bewilderment was the common ground between science and art (Berger, 2018).


My Creature

I would like my creature to be able to encompass this somewhat complicated idea. The idea that bewilderment means being puzzled and confused but to a curious mind, science should come out of that curiosity right? That wild part of us that aims to discover or better yet, uncover.

I would like to create a creature that is static, but as people approach it, it has a reaction related to bewilderment upon each meeting.

For example, think about a plant. This plant would only respond to people which approach it. Upon doing so, the plant responds in the only way it knows how. As a curious mind, it checks out what is going on and then responds with the reaction of bewilderment which then overcomes it. Whether that be, scared, excited, intrigued, shocked, happy, etc.

So just like the word, it encompasses the wild side, but also the puzzling side that we humans should embrace.

The robot on the left is Domo, a robot to assist elderly individuals. https://x1brettstuff.blogspot.com/2007/04/domo-robot-for-confused-and-bewildered.html



A short Love, Death & Robots Excerpt

[robot 2] Hey, guys, stop goofing around

and check this out.

- Behold the entertainment sphere!

- [drum roll]

[robot 3] It's called a ball.

I know it's called a ball,

but I'm trying to get into the whole

"we're experiencing these human things

for the first time" vibe.

And what did humans do with these things?

Oh, man, what didn't they do?

They'd bounce them.

- That's it?

- Yeah. That's pretty much it.

These were humans.

Bouncing things was close to

maxing out their cognitive range.

No, but also sometimes they would take

the ball and hit it with, like, a stick.

What? When they misbehaved?

Berger, K. (2018, November 15). We Are All Bewildered Machines - Issue 66: Clockwork . Nautilus. https://nautil.us/issue/66/clockwork/we-are-all-bewildered-machines.

Jordan, B. (2007, April 19). Domo: Robot for the confused and bewildered. Brett's Blog. https://x1brettstuff.blogspot.com/2007/04/domo-robot-for-confused-and-bewildered.html.