This thesis studies the connection between suffering and sentience in Karel Capek’s R.U.R. (1921) and the first season of Westworld (HBO, 2016). Both R.U.R. and Westworld present suffering as a...Show moreThis thesis studies the connection between suffering and sentience in Karel Capek’s R.U.R. (1921) and the first season of Westworld (HBO, 2016). Both R.U.R. and Westworld present suffering as a catalyst for the emergence of a human form of consciousness in artificial people. Initially, however, organic human characters in both texts are convinced that artificial people feel no pain and are unable to suffer. The organic human characters use this supposed inability to justify the inhumane treatment of the artificial characters. This thesis demonstrates how R.U.R. and Westworld reflect on the ways that theories about differences in sensitivity to pain were and continue to be used to justify the mistreatment of Others in real life. Additionally, the thesis shows how R.U.R. and Westworld offer illustrations of the philosophy of Emmanuel Levinas, in which one’s suffering in response to the Other’s suffering is the foundation of becoming a fully human subject. The thesis shows how R.U.R. and Westworld interweave these opposite ways of responding to the suffering Other, and thereby contribute to a better understanding of the role of suffering in the ongoing negation of what it means to be human.Show less
Bachelor thesis | Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology (BSc)
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This bachelor thesis focuses on the novel integration of robots within Japanese Buddhism. It does so by zooming in on the integration and assignment of different roles to three robots.
Deep reinforcement learning has solved the game of Go, along with all other board games. Can it also be applied to real-world use cases? This research combines a literature study and experimental...Show moreDeep reinforcement learning has solved the game of Go, along with all other board games. Can it also be applied to real-world use cases? This research combines a literature study and experimental evaluation, focusing on the case of automation for tele-operated robotics. This is necessary because tele-operation of robots is slow and cumbersome. Classical robotics solutions are expensive, and limited in precision, but deep reinforcement learning provides an opportunity for learning visuomotor skills using partial information.Show less
