What are we? We are nothing more than a ghost in a shell. In the near future, the world will erase nations and races. What do we get, something beyond AI? Ghost in the Shell, based on a manga by Shirow Masamune is a film that I have never got around to watching until now. I wouldn’t understand it anyway if I were a kid. Let’s just say it’s some pretty deep stuff. It’s so deep that it’s almost omnisciently God-like. It made me wonder if God is a computer?! After all, life is nothing more than just information from simulated experiences. Are humans really different from machines?
In this animation, Major Motoko Kusanagi, a cyborg for Section 9, an anti-cybercrime Japanese Law enforced organization, was given the task to hunt down the cyber-criminal known as Puppet Master whose identity is sexless, originated from America and is the most extraordinary cybercriminal hacker. What is its intention? It seeks to spread its kind through the network of information. As a living organism, it is fated to die and therefore it wishes to merge with another entity to pass on its “DNA”. Who do you think is the lucky bride? The Major is a mirror of the Puppet Master.
It’s a great animation to watch if you want to dive into deep philosophical questions about what makes a human. The Puppet Master, also known as Project 2501, is a bug that has its own desire and free will separate from its programmers (sounds kind of scary). It wishes to complete itself from one particular frame of mind that is made up of a single entity. In other words, it’s trying to create an entirely new entity–something beyond humans and AIs; something like a godly being who knows and sees everything. After all, variety is good for the continuation of existence. Different viewpoints like the variety of genes, ensure a higher chance of the birth of stronger beings. I can see why this film is a masterpiece. Apparently, the bug in Project 2501, like humans, wants to procreate. Woah, that’s some deep stuff I just watched.
Fishing for Metaphors 
Reading this promted me to watch it again as I haven’t seen it in a long time. And I definitely got more out of it this time around after all I’ve learned in life since. It is so mind boggling to imagine the power of knowledge in an unlimited level. And to imagine we as humans barely use 10% of our brains. Really makes you think of the possibilities in the future to come. We already possess extraordinary technologies that we only dreamed of not even 50 years ago. And some even more advanced than we thought then so you can only speculate what’s in store. Its as exciting as it is scary.
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