Chapter 7 Algorithms of Desire
Dukkha in the Machine
In: Religious Narratives in Contemporary Culture
Author:
Anthony Miccoli
Anthony Miccoli
Search for other papers by Anthony Miccoli in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Search for other papers by Anthony Miccoli in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Purchase instant access (PDF download and unlimited online access):
Abstract
From a Buddhist perspective, every non-plant based life form is susceptible to suffering – or dukkha – relative to its biological makeup. Human ontology is characterized by our self-awareness in relation to that suffering. Modern mythological depictions of cyborgs and artificial intelligence in franchises such as Doctor Who, Star Trek, and films such as Her and Ex Machina follow specific posthuman dynamics that articulate technomythic tensions between the human and inhuman, and the dukkha that bridges (and potentially erases) that tension. These narratives represent this suffering as intrinsic and necessary to our existence, elevating it as the necessary price of free will.