Westworld and ‘A Clockwork Orange’

Published February 5, 2017 · Updated July 6, 2022

Hey guys, love the show and was happy to see a new one come out the other day. As I was listening to it a dilemma kept popping into my head. Whenever we talk about the hosts gaining “consciousness” or “sentience” we talk abut whether or not they are acting outside their loop or making their own decisions. My problem is that imagine a person who just left a hypnotic state and has strong post-hypnotic suggestion to do some random thing. If they do that, are they not still conscious even though being slightly controlled? Also, take the book “A Clockwork Orange,” he is conditioned to act and think in certain ways but those conditionings don’t take away his consciousness. You touched on the need for new vernacular but I also think that it’s interesting that we think of consciousness in terms of free decision making but I don’t think that is a true gauge of whether or not certain host have attained it or not.

Thanks,
Ryan from Denver

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