Major Rucker may be talking like an idealist, but he does have a point. After all they’ve been through with him, mention of Mike is conspicuously absent. I wonder why?
By the way, I appreciate all the concern, and your patience last week. I’m clawing my way back to some semblance of general health. And clearly I’m functional again, but I have a lingering cough I can’t seem to kick. Hopefully it’ll subside soon. In any case, I won’t pontificate this week, and just leave it at that.
All the best, folks. See you next week!
Well, I think he is now pin-pointing typical human ignorance. Look at this, they’ve invented almost-intelligent and almost-self-aware tank, loaded it up with tons of super heavy and ultra powerful weaponry, and no one has ever thought of consequences it may bring. Even now, no one ever though that while Mike has started all of this, he had his reasons (as we know from his talk with Haulley). But no, why – after all, it’s a tank, and as we all know well, tanks don’t have feelings or thoughts, right?
Well, guess again.
So, Mike is basically the Elephant (or maybe the Main Battle Tank) in the room?
Sorry. had to be said.
Well, pretty much. You build a thousand-ton tank with a computer brain that gains some version of sapience, and it can pose some very unique difficulties.
The Maus in the room
Very good one.
Indeed so. And as we already know, he’s perfectly willing to defend himself if he feels threatened.
I feel that the cause of this mess is mainly the charter he was acting according to. Human life is the highest of value, and must be protected no matter of the cost – or something like this, can’t recall how it exactly went.
HER life was endangered, so he (Mike) did all he could to protect her. But his – let me call it – “processig abilities” were too limited, to see that it will endanger many more of other lives. Such moral dillemas are problematic even to “normal” people. Now, imagine a tank with pre-programed basic reasoning algorythms solving it.
I find myself doubting, as I often do, that Mike’s nomme de guerre is an accident. He recalls to mind another sentient computer named Mike, one who developed a sick sense of humor. What if this one develops a sense of revenge? Or- perhaps worse- a sense of enforced order? There does seem to exist some evidence that Mike was loaded with at least one missile armed with one of the new, as-yet-experimental, fusion warheads: although this may simply be a case of visual similarity between munitions. What happens if an artificially intelligent, well-nigh-indestructable, office-block-sized piece of telepathic machinery decides that Humans have proven incapable of governing themselves? Or so nearly incapable as to make further experiment on the subject pointless? What if it takes sides? What if it feels betrayed, or taken for granted, or not listened to?
Heinlein’s Mycroft Holmes IV grew a sick sense of humor, only talked to one friend for years on end, and eventually went on to lead a political revolution which it regarded as a practical joke but when resulted (among other things) in the levelling of Cheyenne Mountain and it’s replacement with a radioactive lake. Who knows where this Mike might be headed…
All of those are dangerous prospects, I agree. Mike is a big wildcard, isn’t he?
Actually, to my knowledge only one person has correctly identified the true origin of Mike’s name. I will say that it’s not The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress, but the parallels are a little sharper than I’d imagined.
Say hello to Major Common sense. Seriously irradiated real-estate is the antithesis to seller’s market
He may still be wrong, but for the right reasons. If you follow me.
Well the last Reds I saw were rolling with Mike, one tossed her gun down, to Captain Santelli with tears in her eyes and all needed some kind of medical aid. What do they plan on making those guys healthy just to start a fire fight?
Mike drop 🙂
😀
I’m going to dissent, Mjr Rucker is starting to lose me. a) There is *always* something more for people to fight over. b) Mike is, well, a weapon. And the war he was built for is over. Everybody lost. There may be consequences to having sophont-level super tanks around, but those might no longer be relevant to the current world as it now exists. Mjr Rucker might want to consider that Mike played its part a little too well. Or look at it another way, if your brain was suddenly transplanted into the hull of a giant tank, would that grant you any special insight on how to solve the world’s problems??
Always something to fight over? Well, yes, but perhaps not in a military sense, but more like a brawling over a bone sense. Still, I make no representations that anyone here is right or wrong. They could all be right, in their way. Or they could all be wrong.
As for Mike, well, I’ll let that unfold rather than commenting on it right now. 😉
Considering how Sarah is looking at the Major right now, if looks could kill, he would be a smouldering crater in the floor right now.
I happened to notice a minor continuity error. In panel 2 you show Sarah’s shirt sleeves rolled down, but in the wide view in the last panel her sleeves are rolled up. Of course she could have done that during the Major’s interrogatory statement, but you know how assumptions can go 🙂
I’ll be damned. I’ll have to fix that. I get so close to these panels sometimes it totally gets by me.