In parts 12-15 of Oryx and Crake, the story is concluded for us. It bounces back and forth from Snowman’s present to his past memories as Jimmy. It starts off as Snowman is making his way to the dome and remembering how he originally got involved there in the first place. The chapter goes into how he ended up leaving his job at AnooYoo to work with Crake. The job was quite the upgrade as his best friend was in charge and they had millions of dollars in funding. It also gives us the backstory to the Crakers creation and how Crake made them immune to disease, die at 30, and are unable to be racist. He claimed he was trying to create immortality, but we see that it is immortality that fell under his own definition.
We take a tour of Paradice alongside Jimmy and see the backstory of how Crake orchestrated the eventual apocalypse. It also goes into the relationship between Jimmy and Oryx. We see how Jimmy grew so attached to Oryx and how their strange love story develops. Part 12 finishes quite violently at the height of the apocalypse with Crake slitting Oryx’s throat and saying “I’m counting on you”, and Jimmy shooting him. Parts 13-14 go into how Jimmy broke back into Paradice in an attempt to try to heal his wounded foot and his experience letting out the Crakers. He takes whatever is left and basically leads the Crakers into the world, sort of bringing Crake’s dream into fruition.
The book ends in Snowman’s present as he realizes that there are people who still exist. It is two men and a woman, interestingly enough, enough people to potentially repopulate the world. Snowman sees them in the distance and is conflicted about what to do. The part of him that remembers Crake’s words that he’s counting on him wants to kill them. The other part of him just wants to walk away.
The reading of “The Uncanny Valley: The Original Essay by Masahiro Mori” is an essay originally written in Japanese by one of the top professors of robotics talking about our levels of affinity towards robots depending on its human resemblance. It goes into what he defines as the “Uncanny Valley”. Essentially, we as humans can connect with things created that resemble humans in some form. According to his figures, the more something is human-like, the more we connect and like it. For example, we will not feel much connection to an industrial robot. But for a toy robot, that is made to look to have human features like two legs, two hands, and a head, people feel much more affinity for it. However, when something begins to look too human, our affinity for it drops aggressively. This is what he refers to as “The Uncanny Valley”.
One of the examples he uses as an example of the Uncanny Valley is a prosthetic hand. At first you think it is real, but when you reach in to shake it and realize it is fake we are filled with an eerie uncomfortable feeling. This effect is increased with things that are given movement, like moveable prosthetic hands. He talks about how the level of affinity drops when something that isn’t supposed to move, moves, like a prosthetic hand, or when something that should, doesn’t anymore, like a dead body.
Although, I cannot say that I fully agree with all of Mori’s theories of how people react to things that appear too human when they are not, I do think he brings up some valid points. I would personally agree with having an uncomfortable reaction to a robot that appears too human. However, with other things like very human looking prosthetics, I would not feel uncomfortable. I would also imagine many people would not as well. For this reason, his figures seem a little too subjective to me.
The main idea behind his essay is the human reaction that he tries to capture when we think something is human and realize it isn’t. This can connect to many of the readings that we have done in this unit such as Frankenstein or Oryx and Crake. Much like Victor Frankenstein’s reaction to seeing a creature that resembles a human but isn’t, he had an eerie, horrific reaction. In Oryx and Crake, the Crakers are “human-like” creations that can speak and reason but are not human. In his essay, Mori hopes that the future of robotics will include creations that do not fall into the Uncanny Valley. In his essay Mori says: “To illustrate the principle, consider eyeglasses. Eyeglasses do not resemble real eyeballs, but one could say that their design has created a charming pair of new eyes. So we should follow the same principle in designing prosthetic hands. In doing so, instead of pitiful looking realistic hands, stylish ones would likely become fashionable.”
In Oryx and Crake, I think it can be deduced that Crake made his Crakers to not fall into the Uncanny Valley. He did not attempt to make them seem too human. Just with certain human –like aesthetics like green eyes. Their features were designed to be as practical as possible and he did not get too hung up with making them resemble humans as much as possible, only as much as they needed to be. They looked just different enough that they were not human. The bigger question behind this is: Why do humans seem to be so disturbed from something that cosmetically captures what is natural when it really isn’t? Perhaps it tugs on some inner moral compass that we all have that demands what is natural ought to remain natural and what isn’t ought stay on it’s side.
Discussion questions:
- Would humans accept a creation that strongly resembles a human but isn’t?
- In Oryx and Crake, do you think that the Crakers fall into the Uncanny Valley?
- Would you prefer to see a prosthetic on someone that looks clearly artificial but stylish, or human-like to the look but not the touch?
14 replies on “Oryx and Crake, Crakers, and The Uncanny Valley”
I believe that at this point in human existence, many people may very well be sort of “freaked out” by a robot that is almost too real. However, the more integrated into society robots or some version of a robot become, the more likely people will start to evolve in accepting them. Say a baby is born tomorrow, by the time they are an adult they might be much more accustomed to artificial intelligence them someone who grew up without it. This evolution of accepting robots as humans may become more and more casual in society and lead to the breakdown of the uncanny valley concept. I don’t know what prosthetic I would “prefer” for someone who is needing one because I have seen both kinds used to support people. As long as what is being used is comfortable for the person using it, it’s really none of my business what kind they should be using. I think the point brought up in this blog post that Crake had the Craker’s resemble humans to an extent, brings up the idea that maybe humans were already equipped with the essentials to survive. Yes, Crake only included for the most part the “necessities” of survival so it’s interesting that Crakers still had arms, legs, hands, fingers, all already human characteristics. Maybe humans weren’t as ill equipped and hopeless as Crake believed.
With respect to “The Uncanny Valley”, it would seem that to see a prosthetic resemble a human limb perfectly would feel strange and uncomfortable. However, if the prothetic accurately mirrored a human limb it wouldnt be noticeable and would likely not cause us any discomfort. Rather by having such prosthetics, people who do not want others to know of their issue would be able to blend well into society without themselves feeling uncomfortable.
Humans typically fear anything that resembles a human figure or face, it’s one of the reasons why humans typically perceive aliens in a common form as a deformed human head but retaining other structures of human’s physical appearance. Anything that comes even slightly close to human resemble would respond to humans rejecting the creation.
I do think that the Crakers fall into the Uncanny Valley, they were created based on Humans but removing anything that Crake determined as a human downfall that would otherwise be replaced for a goal in creating Crakers to be superior.
The ability to be able to touch and feel from a prosthetic is amazing in of itself but if those features would be lost or weaken due to stylish looks, I would be all for touch and function rather then looks.
I don’t think that humans would accept a creature that isn’t technically human, even though they appear as one. I believe that if there were human-like creatures scattered around us, we would be intimidated and scared because we know deep down that they aren’t exactly like us on the inside. I wouldn’t care seeing a prosthetic that looks human-like. As long as it works the right way and feels correct, then I think that’s what matters more. I would also rather know what is a prosthetic and what isn’t, because i don’t like when looks are too deceiving. If a prosthetic looked human-like but felt fake, I would be more disturbed than seeing a fake-looking prosthetic.
I think that the reason people are uncomfortable with artificial prosthetics is just that they were expecting something else and not the “realness” of the artificial limb itself. I don’t think it bothers people once they know it’s there. If I were to shake the hand of someone who only had two fingers, you’d probably be pretty shocked, but if you saw it ahead of time and had time to process it, it probably wouldn’t be so startling. If I had to pick one for myself, I would go with the fake but really cool looking variety.
I don’t believe that Crakers would fall into the uncanny valley since they are actual creatures and not robots. We don’t really know what a lifelike robot looks like because they don’t really exist. We don’t even have the technology to make a robot’s movements indistinguishable from a human’s, let alone make it look exactly like a person.
I think what we’ve read in Never Let me Go supports the idea that humans are unable to accept a creation that strongly resembles a human. Kathy, Tommy, and Ruth are all human clones, so they should be almost identical to normal humans. They seem to behave like humans do, as they are able to create art, build relationships, and think about their futures. However, they are not accepted in normal society and are only used for their organs. They do lead very controlled lives and are not granted the privileges that other humans are. Since they are visually identical to humans, this could relate to the Uncanny Valley in that they are too similar to us. They look the same, so people are drawn away from them and only think of them as a way to get new organs.
If I had to have some type of prosthetic, I personally would want it to be as human-like as possible even if it felt different when someone touched it. I think a lot of people would want it to look real so they could blend in with everyone. If it was clearly artificial but stylish people would stare, ask a lot of questions, and you would get a lot of unwanted attention. However, it is a personal choice and as long as it is comfortable, functional, and safe it shouldn’t matter whether the prosthetic is human-like or artificial looking.
I believe in Oryx and Crake that the Crackers fall into the Uncanny Valley. Uncanny Valley is when something appears almost exactly human, but something is strange and different and it causes a disconcerting feeling in people. They were genetically modified to be superior to humans. The Crackers were very similar to humans, but were better able to survive the environment than humans.
Would you prefer to see a prosthetic on someone that looks clearly artificial but stylish, or human-like to the look but not the touch?
If I had some sort of prosthetic, I would want it to look as human like as possible. That way I could better fit into society. I would not really care if it changed if I was touched. I would not want to be the center of attention and that would be the case if it looked artificial but stylish. I would not really care if it looked stylish.
The Oxford dictionary defines the “uncanny valley” as a “reference to the phenomenon whereby a computer-generated figure or humanoid robot bearing a near-identical resemblance to a human being arouses a sense of unease or revulsion in the person viewing it.” In other words, the uncanny valley has to do with a level of realism in robots that causes human observer to have a bad reaction. If it is less realistic we feel empathy and understand it – if its any more realistic and we can’t distinguish that it’s artificial and we don’t understand it.
I think this definition applies to the Crakers in Oryx and Crake. Crake created the Crakers to resemble humans, but he removed all the characteristics that he felt would lead to their downfall. If someone looked at them they wouldn’t know they were looking at a man made human because they look so similar to a real person. In the sense that the Crakers are manmade and not a product of nature they fall into the definition of the uncanny valley.
“The “uncanny valley” is a characteristic dip in emotional response that happens when we encounter an entity that is almost, but not quite, human.”
When I looked at humanoid robot Sophia’s interview video, I thought it was really cool. I was astonished by her intelligence and look, but I also felt scared at the same time. This creepy feeling is likely related to the “uncanny valley”. So, at this point, I don’t think people can fully accept a human-like creation. There is a tendency for people to feel uncomfortable and uneasy.
It is no surprise that when people in todays society walk around with prosthetic limbs it attracts more attention. It isn’t socially “normal” to have missing limbs, but most people in todays society judge others completely by the way they look. It is the sad truth but we all do it, and the first thing that may come to mind when coming across someone with a prosthetic limb is wanting to know detail on how it happened, if they were born that way, and wondering what it feels like. I agree with Mori’s essay based on the fact that a more stylish prosthetic limb would not be made out to resemble the human body part it is trying to replace, instead it would force a new fashionable trend and make a statement to the publics eye that judges it. Fashion is something that evolves as humans do, so making a prosthetic limb that can be unique and original would be less likely judged then one that is trying to resemble by replacing the lost limb.
I would prefer a prosthetic that is artificial but stylish instead of human like to the look but not the touch. In my opinion I would prefer this because even if it is more noticeably different when walking around in public I think that if a person were to have something more stylish it can be more excepted as something not abnormal but more unique. I believe maybe people would be less surprised by it and instead maybe more fascinated.
I somewhat do agree with the challenges designers of robots/ Prosthetics might encounter. Mori points out some of the important human behavior that might arise when we encounter human like robots. If I personally see a robot with human features, it sure will bring my attention but the movement of that robot will make me feel uncomfortable. Mori doesn’t only talk about the world of robots but also prosthetics for the handicapped. One of the concern of prosthetics is that, one might say prosthetic hand resemblance to the human form. However, when we realize the hand, which at first site looked real, is in fact artificial and that gives us a creepy sensation.
I think prosthetic would not be a bad idea. If we want clones we can try to make them as human like as possible. During this time it is very awkward to see clones who are very different looking form humans.In the essay i agree with Mori’s that limb will not be resembling humans and neither humans will be able to accept them.
I also don’t agree with the fact that they were only made to get organs from them, i know they don’t have feelings but if they are resembling humans so they should be given all the rights as humans and not treated as organ donors only.