Ep. 64 Why Johnny Depp Was the Good Guy and Morgan Freeman Was the Bad Guy in *Transcendence*
Bob analyses the 2014 film *Transcendence*, starring Johnny Depp and Morgan Freeman. Besides making his case that Depp’s character was in the right, Bob explores some of the economic and even religious elements of the film..
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Mentioned in the Episode and Other Links of Interest:
- The trailer to Transcendence.
- Bob’s article on the social function of stock speculation.
- Bob’s journal article that discusses Garrison’s version of Austrian business cycle theory in terms of the standard Solow growth model.
- Help support the Bob Murphy Show.
The audio production for this episode was provided by Podsworth Media.
About the author, Robert
Christian and economist, Chief Economist at infineo, and Senior Fellow with the Mises Institute.
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Your movie reviews are fantastic. To say I enjoy them is too little. Still, I would like to contribute a bit in terms of logical flaws of the story you did not mention.
How come an ‘omniscient’ AI is underestimating humans and their propensity to be easy on the trigger at the slightest doubt someone may endanger them. You said, he was trying not to freak the people out, so instead of building the armies, he was healing the blind people. OK, but he never gave any explanation to anyone, he did not publish the story or any other explanation of his real plans (healing the planet), even though it was living on the Internet. So, without that, all it was doing could be, even in good faith, interpreted as a big danger to humanity, much more than any potential beneficial action. Yes, Max invented the story that AI’s nano crystals are about to replace the primitive life, but this is, in absence of other explanations, the safest assumption to make. All this super AI should know and should act to prevent the human over-reaction preemptively. Remember, you said in your other movie review (with the truth revealing sunglasses) that people need to be slowly educated into new ideas, and you know that and you are just the human. AI did not give a slightest chance to humans to understand it or accept it. Loving its ex-wife and trying to fulfill her dreams, does not justify him to act stupidly. Isn’t this film a super big example of the toxic white-knighting, instead? The end is clearly suggesting it. Instead of spending time, first to explain to humans his real plans and than acting on them, he prefers to get itself killed and live as a sunflower in his garden of Eden with his beloved female sunflower alone, while keeping all the blind and sick not healed. I mean, even the AI can decide how to conduct its existence, there are no positive obligations, but acting like this is not transcending, but imitating average Joes.
Yeah, I think the real answer is: If they made the AI behave wisely, they couldn’t have ended the movie.
Johnny depp portrayed a cancer patient so well in this movie!. He played it so well. He embodied all the compassion and emotion that goes into passing. My husband had passed from bone cancer and he reminded me so much of my husband in the story I wept. Strangest thing I was the only one in the theatre and it was my birthday. Johnny Depp is truly charismatic and embodies the characters he portrays in depth. Truly an amazing man! Love u johnny ♡