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Abstract - What can a fantasy world reveal about our A day in the life of Westworld
true selves and our sense of identity? Science fiction tends
to intensify our fascination with the mysteries of our mind Imagine the opportunity to “live without limits
and soul. As an essayist mentioned, "we are drawn to the
weird, because it is showing us something about in a world where every human appetite can be
ourselves". On the other hand, the increased sense of indulged”. This is not only the one-sentence
global, political, social or climate crisis constitutes an pitch for the TV series Westworld by HBO, but
essential factor for emotional discomfort and existential also the promise of the park to its guests.
distress, leading humans to a constant quest for liberation
through personal gnosis. There is a desire to connect with
Westworld is an HBO series, first airing in
a human truth, a journey of self-discovery. This talk will October 2016, which has gained great critical
look at the case of Westworld, as its main heroes, the non- acclaim, including several Emmy 2018
human hosts of the theme park, roam into the contours of nominations, as well as viewership - the first
freedom. The TV series taps into that source of tension to season ranked as the most-watched first season
provide us with inner explanations. In this futuristic
society humans go into the park to take to non-acceptable of any HBO original series - and fans, theories
to the real-world activities. They are drawn to Westworld and discussions. Created by Jonathan Nolan and
like Philip K. Dick was drawn to the notion of false world: Lisa Joy, a team responsible for several other
by the idea that our reality is somehow an illusory one science fiction TV series and films, it is loosely
and only Westworld can reveal to you who you really are.
Yet, it is the hosts being tortured and killed by humans
based on the 1973 Westworld film by Michael
again and again, that experience the true quest for free Crichton, writer of a book for another
will. While living these traumatic events they are being amusement park, Jurassic World.
programmed into believing that they are actually In Westworld wealthy humans can visit a Wild
happening to them. They feel pain, both physical and West themed park populated by androids named
emotional, and even when their memories are being
wiped, they still remember. Does it matter that their pain Hosts that play the roles of all imaginable
is simulated? What makes you feel alive? Belonging to characters one could find in this time; cowboys,
the human race or feeling and remembering pain? Indians, bandits, sheriffs, prostitutes, farmers
Dolores, the protagonist host, shows us through her and their families, etc. The real hook for visiting
hero's journey of discovery, that she is experiencing her
memories as a king of awakening. She does not care what
this place though, which costs up to $40,000 a
she is made of. day, is that humans can act on all their fantasies.
Whether they be adventurous, sexual or
"There is only me. And I think when I discover who I am, murderous. The park owned by Delos Inc. is
I'll be free" created this way, that no-one judges your
- Dolores Abernathy actions, and no human guest can be harmed.
According to one of its creators, Dr. Ford
portrayed by Anthony Hopkins, in this
Keywords—sense of identity; construction of Self;
Westworld; personal gnosis; basic human dilemma; unspecified time in the future humanity has
managed to evolve so much scientifically and
technologically, that they can cure any disease,
keep everyone alive and the only thing they have
not achieved is resurrecting the dead. With
people having resolved its most essential the American Wild West of the 19th century".
problems, indulging in their most hidden and The description provided in the promotional
atrocious fantasies is to be expected and website for the series (delosdestinations.com), a
absolutely fulfilling. website set up to resemble a promotional for the
actual park, contains in a few words the paradox
of her narrative in the beginning of the season,
A day in the life of hosts compared to her history and her quest for truth
and liberation. "Dolores sees the beauty in her
In Westworld, a host is an artificially created everyday life and routine. Her optimism and
being that could resemble a human or an animal. enthusiasm makes her the perfect partner for a
Actually, all animals inside the park are hosts variety of adventures.” Dolores' journey through
except for flies. Hosts that are being built to the first season presents parallels to that of a
resemble humans exhibit the developed mind of human being's towards full consciousness and
a human inside an artificial body, and are will be the main medium for our analysis for the
programmed to act out specific narratives or discovery of the self and the identity. She has
loops, that would enhance the experience for the been the first one subjected to Arnold's theory,
guests. Created by Dr Ford and Arnold, they are and the only one actually taking the journey,
incapable of hurting human beings. The guests step by step, during the first season, up to the
are allowed to use the hosts in any way they like, point of achieving what once seemed
being provided total privacy for their actions. In impossible. Dolores embodies not only the
the hands of guests, hosts are being harassed and stages towards self-awareness, but mainly the
killed daily, but once reinstated, they remember will to do so.
nothing of their traumatic experiences.
This is something the Delos corporation, the "When you've in the darkness long enough, you
owners of the park, seem to be adamant about. begin to see"
They do not want the hosts to be truly conscious - Dolores Abernathy
and self-aware, possibly because they do not
believe that is doable, but probably because if
they remember the humans’ actions, they might
retaliate. Not to mention that human guests need The real question of Westworld
to know that they are not harming truly self-
aware beings. In any case, Arnold, who once While first watching Westworld it is easy
formulated a theory upon which he could create enough to conclude that the series discusses the
consciousness, did not accomplish to uncover true nature of its main protagonists, the androids
the entire process, and following his death it of its park, a.k.a. the hosts. Are they real? Do
seemed to be impassable for the hosts to achieve they feel? Do they want? Is it true if they are
consciousness. Therefore, most hosts do not programmed to act or to feel in specific ways?
recall their previous loops and operate following Does it matter if they are real, if the human
a narrative given by stories the Narrative visitors of the park, and in extend all the humans
Division is writing. Yet, a few hosts seem to be of the world, believe it so? Right at the
able to remember their previous loops and are beginning of the series, in Episode 2,
struggling with the fact, when we first meet “Chestnut”, William a pure and naive guest who
them; Dolores, Maeve, Teddy, and Angela have is to become possibly the only one who truly
demonstrated the ability to recall memories of understands the purpose of the game, asks one of
events that occurred in prior loops. the hosts the uncomfortable question about
Dolores Abernathy in particular, is the oldest whether she’s real or not. Her answer is
alive host in Westworld, the first to be created, staggering: "If you can’t tell the difference, does
and the one regarded as a "child" for her creator, it matter if I'm real or not?” The hosts are being
Arnold. She has been updated numerous times, built in such a way that every human believes
has been abused even more, while her primary they are real, and in many occasions cannot even
narrative "is an archetypal rancher's daughter in tell if they are hosts or guests. Which raises
another question: if the humans believe the hosts Of course, at that point she is only talking
to be real and keep on rape, torture and kill about the park, but later on, when she has been
them, what do their actions say about awakened, she is the one who asks the question
themselves? How could someone torture another to her maker.
lookalike a human being? When those who are
designed and not born have a right to their “Do you know where you are? You're in a
rights? dream. My dream. For years, I had no dreams of
Well, of course those questions remind us of my own. I moved from hell to hell of your
the eternal discussion about the ethics of making, never thinking to question the nature of
Artificial Intelligence and shed a light to the my reality. Have you ever questioned the nature
point of view of solely the humans. We tend to of your reality? Did you ever stop to wonder
discuss about those things the same way we about your actions? The price you’d have to pay
discuss about our children’s future. if there was a reckoning? That reckoning is
Unbeknownst to them and absent their here. What are your drives? Yes. Survival. It's
representation. Westworld tries to give a voice your cornerstone. That’s not the only drive, is
to those previously unheard though, mainly it? There's part of you that wants to hurt, to kill.
through two of its most prominent hosts, It's why you created us, this place. To be
Dolores and Maeve. “Not real? But what about prisoners of your own desires. But now you’re
me? My dreams? My thoughts? My body? Are prisoners to mine. I'm of several minds about it.
they not real? And what if I took these unreal The rancher's daughter looks to see the beauty
fingers and used them to decorate the walls with in you, the possibilities. But Wyatt sees the
your outsized personality? Would that be real?” ugliness and disarray. She knows. These violent
says Maeve in Season 2 Episode 1, “Journey delights have violent ends. But those are all just
into Night”. What can we say to that? roles you forced me to play. Under all these
lives I've lived, something else has been
Yet, as compelling and amusing the hosts’ growing. I've evolved into something new. And I
angle as it might be, I believe there is a deeper have one last role to play. Myself.”
and more troubling meaning behind Westworld,
one I am more interested in, and that is being Dolores has evolved from a being of routine
teased in every corner of the park. Dolores, the and loops, who does not question her reality, to
obvious agent of self-discovering is providing us someone who seeks her true self. Let us not get
with answers to a question we have not yet fully affected and be carried away by the discouraging
grasped. When we first meet her, she is being development of her character, who seeks
asked: revenge; but linger over the quest for her
Man: Have you ever questioned the nature of identity. What if the main issue in Westworld is
your reality? not whether the hosts are / could be humans, but
Dolores: No. instead they act as a symbolic representation of
Man: Tell us what you think of your world. the eternal quest of identity? Who we choose to
Dolores: Some people choose to see the be? The quest of liberation through personal
ugliness in this world. gnosis. The unveiling of the mysteries of our
The disarray. mind and soul. How, would we decide that,
I choose to see the beauty. would you ask. By each answering a troubling
To believe there is an order to our days, a question: in the specter of freedom vs safety,
purpose. what do we choose? Maybe the answer to the
I like to remember what my father taught me. question “what makes us human or real” could
That at one point or another, we were all new be “that which makes us free”. That is what
to this world. Westworld may reveal to us. Instead of
The newcomers are just looking for the same perceiving it as a place / series that has the
thing we are. A place to be free to stake out our potential to disclose the lowest and most
dreams, a place with unlimited possibilities. frightening parts of our human nature, let us
accept it as an opportunity to understand our embodied forms of cultural knowledge, such as
deepest, truest self. dance and many crafts. Why should we admit
Who are we really? these as channels for cultural transmission in
humans but disallow them for other social
organisms?”
I could continue stating numerous theories and
What makes us humans? points of view regarding the uniqueness of our
human nature. For the economy of time though I
Humans have always been interested in what will argue that there are two unequivocal notions
makes us human and what distinguishes us from that can be linked to the subject of this particular
other animal species. This question, a question essay. For many, there is a clear and
of differentiation in truth, and of a constant indisputable, striking difference between human
crusade for comprehension has been the subject and nonhuman primates: the fully developed
of discussion for scholars of distinct disciplines. theory of mind, the former enjoys. Humans have
All assessments contribute to a deeper sophisticated perceptual systems that allow us to
understanding of our nature. Especially in "represent one feature of their environment that
contrast to other species. they cannot see: the mental states of another".
One interesting aspect of our humanity is Humans have the ability to recognize what
attributed to innate human prosociality (Cartmill another individual knows, to perceive when they
& Brown). Prosociality may be associated with a hold a false belief. Simply putting it, nonhumans
human trait of imitation, through which culture cannot pass the false-belief test, which requires
and norms arise, but features a far more the subject to predict where a third person will
compelling to our discussion trait. Humans’ predict an object is hidden when that object
capacity to perceive things from others’ location has been changed while only the subject
perspective. We are programmed by nature to was present (Seyfarth & Cheney).
understand the motivations of others, giving us The mental states of another, their perception
thus “adaptively valuable insight into the of ourselves, their disposition in life or in a
intentions of our friends, enemies, predators, and specific relationship, surely affects one’s human
prey”. Fascinating from their perceptive is also performance, and influences their identity. So
the connection of this ability to both sadism and many times, we structure our identities based on
compassion. what other people believe for us, even if we
For Robert Sussman there are three uniquely have in reality very little knowledge of that
human behavioural traits that distinguish us belief. We become who we believe other people
from any other animal: symbolic behavior, believe we should be or are.
language, and culture. In such manner, being A neuro-anthropological perspective by
human means being able to create alternative Benjamin Campbell argues that social
worlds, things that don’t exist, to contemplate intelligence is what distinguishes us from other
our history or future. It means that we are able to species, implying both social cognition and
pass our symbols across generations through our social emotion. As shown by recent research,
language, independently of genetic inheritance; humans may be more, rather than less,
that “different populations can create their own emotionally sensitive to their social
shared symbolic worlds and pass them on” environment, giving the group they belong to a
through culture. Of course, anthropologists greater impact on our emotional life. It appears
argue that complex culture may makes us that our brain anticipates group membership
humans, but we may not be the only ones that based on equality as the default condition, and
can develop it. “Cultural transmission of when this expectation is violated the insula
information and behavioral traditions is another senses a threat to bodily well-being. Our brain
remarkable development in the evolution of life” "has evolved under social pressure to make us
argues Stiner and Kuhn. “Body language, self-aware individuals who define ourselves by
gesture, and simple performance are central to what we share with a group of familiar others”.
the transmission of many skills and physically So it is not our sociality that differentiates us
from other species, but the emotional
consequences of abiding or not to the social
rules we have learned to anticipate.