Evolution or Apocalypse: Understanding R.U.R.
Word Count: 1,240
Apocalypse or Evolution: Understanding R.U.R.
In response to the end of the devastating First World War that took millions of lives, Karel Capek wrote the play Rossum’s Universal Robots, which depicts the end of the human race by man’s own creation of robots. Scholar Christine Cornell oversimplifies that Capek challenges the assumptions that “the end of science is ultimately to benefit humanity” with the annihilation of the human race by robots (105,106). However, Cornell fails to mention that despite the apocalypse of the human race, humanity still prevails in the form of artificial intelligence perfected with science. The hopeful ending signifies that Capek emphasizes much more on the importance of man’s intentions with the presence of technology, than just the consequences science and technology may cause. Intrigued by the extreme benefits and consequences of industrialization that greatly impacted Europe, Capek illustrates that technological advancements can have both extreme detrimental and beneficial results to humanity. Industrialization, emerged from human’s desire to innovate, brought boundless advancements in almost every field of science. Nevertheless, the combination of greed and technological advancements resulted in one of the deadliest wars in human history. Similarly, the creation of robots in Capek’s play also resulted in two extreme cases. Robots that were made “more developed, more intelligent and stronger [than man]” caused the massacre of the entire human race possible almost instantaneously because they were made with the intent to establish a society that defies God (Capek Act 2). On the other hand, Robots Primus and Helena created by Dr. Gall with the intent to achieve human perfection becomes the key to the continuation of humanity. Although it may initially seem that the Capek is comparing the positive and negative outcomes, the fact that both extremes are caused by different intentions suggests that Capek is not
Apocalypse or Evolution: Understanding R.U.R.
In response to the end of the devastating First World War that took millions of lives, Karel Capek wrote the play Rossum’s Universal Robots, which depicts the end of the human race by man’s own creation of robots. Scholar Christine Cornell oversimplifies that Capek challenges the assumptions that “the end of science is ultimately to benefit humanity” with the annihilation of the human race by robots (105,106). However, Cornell fails to mention that despite the apocalypse of the human race, humanity still prevails in the form of artificial intelligence perfected with science. The hopeful ending signifies that Capek emphasizes much more on the importance of man’s intentions with the presence of technology, than just the consequences science and technology may cause. Intrigued by the extreme benefits and consequences of industrialization that greatly impacted Europe, Capek illustrates that technological advancements can have both extreme detrimental and beneficial results to humanity. Industrialization, emerged from human’s desire to innovate, brought boundless advancements in almost every field of science. Nevertheless, the combination of greed and technological advancements resulted in one of the deadliest wars in human history. Similarly, the creation of robots in Capek’s play also resulted in two extreme cases. Robots that were made “more developed, more intelligent and stronger [than man]” caused the massacre of the entire human race possible almost instantaneously because they were made with the intent to establish a society that defies God (Capek Act 2). On the other hand, Robots Primus and Helena created by Dr. Gall with the intent to achieve human perfection becomes the key to the continuation of humanity. Although it may initially seem that the Capek is comparing the positive and negative outcomes, the fact that both extremes are caused by different intentions suggests that Capek is not
Cited: Asimove, Issac. Robot Visions. New York: ROC, 1990. 435, 438, 440, 441. Print. Cornell, Christine. “Remembering the Ancients: Observations on Technoscience in Capek’s R.U.R.” Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society. 31.2 (2011): 103-112. SAGE. Web. 15 Jan. 2013. Capek, Karel. R.U.R. (Rossum 's Universal Robots). Trans. David Wyllie. N.p.: n.p., n.d. EBooks@Adelaide, 20 May 2006. Web. 28 May 2013.