Deke was fascinated with a video game called “Fokkers&Spads,” where players
engaged in dogfights as war fighter pilots. To beat the top fighter, Deke betrayed
Nance. Unscrupulously stealing the hype from Nance, Deke won the game. Deke
imagined that all gamblers would come to celebrate, to drink, and to speak with
him after his victory. To his surprise, nobody there wanted to meet with him?
. The authors depicted the bitterly received victory of Deke, “[the audience]
radiated contempt, even hatred. For an interminably drawn-out moment, the air
trembled with potential violence… and then someone turned to the side, hawked
up phlegm, and spat on the floor. The crowd broke up, muttering, one by one
drifting into the darkness.” The powerful ending challenged me to look deeper
into the character of Deke, who made himself so ambitious that he was unable to
keep friends.
A shot of liquid in a blue plastic vial, the enhancement hype that Deke used
in Dogfight, escalated his level of concentration as well as accelerated neuron
interface. According to the utilitarian principle, no matter which methods
that Deke used to win the game, the outcome was set: Deke would win the
game. On moral grounds, the process of success is much more valuable than
the consequence of success itself. That was why, I think, the audience radiated
contempt, even hatred. As for Deke, he was left with nothing but pain from the
hype crash.
What if the only way to survive was to eat hype? Should human enhancement
drugs such as hype apply to future warfare? The onboard computers monitored
human mind and decided when to active the sluice gates and command soldiers.
Is this story a metaphor for the application of human enhancements in warfare?
Although drugs can help people win a contest or even a war, one should be
aware of the consequences. realize pathetically that nobody will be left to
accompany, to listen to his or her story.
In relation to Jamais Cascio’s Get Smarter, we had already embraced an era of
cognitive enhancement. The imagined drug, Hype might be invented given the
moving pharmacological arm races. Can real human capacity win the hype at the
end? Does Cascio's idea still hold true? This is a story that questions the morality
of future human enhancement. Will we suffer the same consequences that Deke
did？
Concepts like hype in "Dogfight" bring up a conflict of morality that is always an issue when discussing human enhancement. I guess that hype could be compared to steroids in the way that using it gives Deke unearned skill and strength in his "sport" and thus an unfair advantage over his opponent, Tiny. But there it is: UNFAIR advantage. The main problem with human enhancement such as this is, as technology progresses, it becomes more difficult to determine what exactly the line is that marks something as "fair." Does "fair" cosist of someone's natural ability? Or does "fair" count as that person's ability to procure technology?
ReplyDeleteIn "Dogfight," Tiny is "just naturally better'n [Deke]" (11), but Deke is the one with the technology to win. So which individual deserves to be the champion? The fact that people don't run to congratulate Deke may speak to the injustice of his win, sort of like karma. But then again, he also hurt Nance in the process of procuring the hype, so perhaps the karma is in reference to that. Either way, "the drug . . . fried Tiny" (15), not Deke himself. The technology created a champion, rather than allowing Deke to attempt to win by his own merit. In my opinion, that is "unfair." I think that Deke did not get the round of applause that he expected because he used technology to gain fame, rather than training and developing his own natural skill. Human enhancements create people that are more fake than real.
This reply to Nuannuan comes from Rayna, who had trouble posting while on her way back to Richmond:
ReplyDeleteHype does not exist yet, however as Lin suggests in his article, pharmacological enhancements as well as genetic and robotic ones are not too far off. I agree with Lin that the only way that we will be able to stop events such as those that took place in Dog Fight is to take preemptive action. Technology often moves faster that ethics which is why Lin states that "it is imperative to start considering their impacts before technologies fully arrive". Enhancement technologies will most likely have the most immediate and most destructive effect in war. Enhanced soldiers bring to light the ethical considerations with which Lin is concerned however if/when enhancements enter the mainstream; they will undoubtedly impact society and culture. Lin's article as well as “Dog Fight” bring to mind dystopian tales such as Brave New World and The Hunger Games. In the former, society is clearly negatively impacted by rampant drug use. In the latter, the technology used in warfare seems to cross many ethical boundaries and also leads to intense class stratification and socioeconomic disparities. Considering “Dog Fight”, Lin's article and many other science fiction examples, I think it is very important to set ethical boundaries now before things get out of hand.
The usage of human enhancement drugs such as steroids and adderall already exist as controversial ethical issue in our society. Athletes that use steroids are rejected and hated by many fans for "cheating," however the rewards for their success are so vast, as seen in the success in Barry Bonds, that maybe "cheating" is worth it for some individuals. Although taking these drugs are not respected, there is no question they give you an advantage over non-users. As human enhancement drugs continue to develop, I believe the successful users of these drugs will still be rejected from the public as Deke was; however, if the use of these drugs becomes common in society, the non-users may be left behind in the success of the users.
ReplyDeleteRyan makes an excellent point about athletes here. We look down on Lance Armstrong now, when only a few years ago, we celebrated his ability as a cyclist.
ReplyDeleteThis is why I like the end of the story. Deke ends up with exactly nothing but the Blue Max.
The question remains is whether Deke cheats or merely takes every advantage. I'm not defending him, but I wonder...Cyberpunk fiction often features chemical as will as cybernetic augmentation to humans. If Hype existed and gave an advantage, wouldn't any competitor want to take it?
I agree with Rayna that there should be “ethical boundaries” established. As technology continues to advance, there needs to be rules on how and when we can use it and what we aren’t allowed to use that would perhaps give an unfair advantage over the opponent. I believe what Deke did to both Nance and Tiny was unethical. Eventually the consequences of one’s wrongdoings will catch up with him/her if he/she doesn’t feel remorse for what they did. Deke suffered because he “felt good” after taking advantage of Nance and after defeating Tiny when the others clearly did not see him as having genuine characteristics that could have otherwise redeemed him from what he had done. On the other hand, if Tiny used Hype as well, then maybe it would have been a fair fight.
ReplyDelete