Epicac
Anuar Mendoza
English 110
09/28/09
Ms. Markiewicz
Don’t Shut Me Down! The human side of a computer machine in “Epicac” by Kurt Vonnegut
Doesn’t it sound humorous to state that humans and machines are alike? Well it’s actually not. The normal assumption is that humans and machines are essentially different from one another. This is not the case of “Epicac”, a computing machine designed for government intelligence capable of solving any complex problem given to him. His human-like features such as “Consciousness, spirituality, free will, and capability of loving makes me believe beyond the impossible. Computer machines have the ability to express human emotion with the sufficient amount of intelligence and technological advances. Epicac was built for war but his real purpose was to spread love. He demonstrated that he had feelings by creating magnificent poems for Pat Kilgallen. In order to develop a love poem one must be able to express their emotions. The narrator found himself desperate to marry his co-worker Pat Killagen whom he was in love with. As a result, he seeks Epicac’s help to convince Pat to marry him. After briefly being explained what love and poetry was “Epicac had found himself”. His true passion and emotion would be expressed on paper for Pat. For example, Epicac’s first poem showed the human side of him, “Where willow wands bless rill-crossed hollow, there, thee, Pat dear, will I follow”. Not surprisingly his beautiful and kind-hearted poems melted Pat’s heart. It’s astonishing to see how a machine made from cold metal and wires could create such wonderful poetry capable of warming anyone’s heart. His noble spirit would become satisfied just knowing that Pat had listened to his poems. Many of us in fact, love it when our accomplishments are admired. This shows another human characteristic in Epicac, feeling proud of himself. In addition, Epicac’s
English 110
09/28/09
Ms. Markiewicz
Don’t Shut Me Down! The human side of a computer machine in “Epicac” by Kurt Vonnegut
Doesn’t it sound humorous to state that humans and machines are alike? Well it’s actually not. The normal assumption is that humans and machines are essentially different from one another. This is not the case of “Epicac”, a computing machine designed for government intelligence capable of solving any complex problem given to him. His human-like features such as “Consciousness, spirituality, free will, and capability of loving makes me believe beyond the impossible. Computer machines have the ability to express human emotion with the sufficient amount of intelligence and technological advances. Epicac was built for war but his real purpose was to spread love. He demonstrated that he had feelings by creating magnificent poems for Pat Kilgallen. In order to develop a love poem one must be able to express their emotions. The narrator found himself desperate to marry his co-worker Pat Killagen whom he was in love with. As a result, he seeks Epicac’s help to convince Pat to marry him. After briefly being explained what love and poetry was “Epicac had found himself”. His true passion and emotion would be expressed on paper for Pat. For example, Epicac’s first poem showed the human side of him, “Where willow wands bless rill-crossed hollow, there, thee, Pat dear, will I follow”. Not surprisingly his beautiful and kind-hearted poems melted Pat’s heart. It’s astonishing to see how a machine made from cold metal and wires could create such wonderful poetry capable of warming anyone’s heart. His noble spirit would become satisfied just knowing that Pat had listened to his poems. Many of us in fact, love it when our accomplishments are admired. This shows another human characteristic in Epicac, feeling proud of himself. In addition, Epicac’s